A non-profit organisation, Yiaga Africa, has mentioned that greater than half of Nigerians don’t belief the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC).
The group’s Govt Director, Samson Itodo, said this on Friday throughout an interview on Prime Time, a programme on Come up Tv.
Itodo mentioned points akin to conflicting outcomes from the identical polling unit, election officers subverting the need of voters, and the pre-filling of consequence sheets have continued to erode public confidence within the electoral physique.
“It’s very harmful. It’s clear from the survey that greater than half of Nigerians don’t belief INEC, they usually don’t belief INEC for a number of causes. One, it’s the best way and method and their expertise with earlier elections,” he mentioned.
In response to him, the extent of mistrust isn’t a surprise, given the experiences of voters over time, including that the issue goes past INEC alone.
“It’s additionally the conduct of the opposite actors inside the election worth chain – the safety businesses, the judiciary.
“All of those actors, their conduct, inactions or mismanagement of the electoral course of have antagonistic results on the best way residents understand elections,” Itodo mentioned.
He famous that the widespread mistrust is clear amongst residents and defined that this was why the present INEC chairman has repeatedly acknowledged the necessity for the fee to do extra to construct belief and confidence.
Itodo burdened that how INEC handles logistics, consequence administration, collation and transmission, in addition to political social gathering registration, is essential to restoring public religion within the system.
“With primaries set to start quickly, how INEC manages the nomination course of, the primaries and congresses, and the way it scrutinises and accepts candidates’ lists from political events will matter rather a lot,” he mentioned.
He warned that accepting candidates’ lists from events that didn’t conduct legitimate primaries would significantly harm the integrity of the fee.
“In a state of affairs the place INEC accepts an inventory of candidates from political events when validly performed primaries haven’t held, it could actually forged a blight on the integrity of the fee,” he added.
Whereas commending the INEC chairman for persistently talking about the necessity to encourage belief since assuming workplace, Itodo mentioned stakeholders should stay vigilant.
He linked declining voter turnout to the best way electoral actors handle the method, noting that poor administration instantly impacts residents’ willingness to take part.