PRESS STATEMENT - 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS: SOME MATTERS ARISING

press statement - 2019 General Elections: SOME MATTERS ARISING

Wednesday 20^th March, 2019    4pm  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has halted the collation of results in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area (LGA) of Bauchi State based on an order of a Federal High Court in Abuja, ordering it to stop the collation of the governorship election results in Bauchi State. Proceeding with the supplementary elections as originally announced by INEC is consistent with INEC’s actions in other states.

INEC has also said that it would not present the Certificate of Return to Governor Rochas Okorocha for Imo West Senatorial District because the Returning Officer, Professor Innocent Ibeabuchi indicated that the declaration was made under duress. It is important that in all elections INEC officials are protected from harm and allowed to do their constitutional assignments. Assaulting INEC officials is wrong, criminal and must not reoccur in future elections. Wherever such did occur during the 2019 General Elections, the law should be followed to bring the culprits to book.  

However it is important to ask some questions when considering this issue:

a.                Does the law at present give INEC the power to withhold a Certificate of Return for an elected official even though the declaration was made under duress?

b.               What evidence is INEC relying on to affirm that it’s Returning Officer declared the winner under duress? Is the admission of the RO sufficient or is there additional information to corroborate this position?

c.                After the announcement of results from 9 LGAs on the night of Sunday 24^th February 2019, why did the Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Francis Ezeonu call to request for the Returning Officer, Professor Ibeabuchi to return to Owerri to continue the collation process on Monday 25th February 2019?

d.               Was there any security breach prior to this action which necessitated this?

e.                Was any effort made to explain to party agents about the REC's decision and what necessitated it?

f.                 Did the REC have the legal standing to act in this manner?

g.               Why didn't the Returning Officer announce the results of the remaining 3 LGAs (Oru West, Ugwuta and Orlu) immediately they arrived the Collation Centre?

h.               One of the reports in the public domain is that the Returning Officer was of the opinion that results from the LGAs were inflated in favour of a particular candidate. If this is true, were there reports made by the LGA collation officers to this effect?

i.                 If it happens that no such reports were made, does the Returning Officer have the legal right to contest the results provided by the LGA collation officers?

j.                 Where were the security agents at the time the results for Imo West Senatorial District were being declared? What is the security report on the issue?

k.                Was the candidate affected given a fair hearing to state his own side before being denied his Certificate of Return?

l.                 Considering the collated results at the Local Government Area level, are these when added together consistent or different from what was announced at the Senatorial Constituency Collation Centre in Orlu, Imo State?

m.              In the instance that the collation of figures from the Local Government Area level were consistent with what was eventually declared what would be the essence of putting the Returning Officer under duress to announce the results apart from the fact that he was requested to conclude the collation in Owerri the Imo State Capital which is not the standard practice?

n.               Were there additional INEC officials outside the RO who witnessed this incident?

o.               How exactly was the RO put under duress? Was there an invasion into the Senatorial Constituency Collation Centre and the security agents subdued or was it the security agents who were engaged to put the Returning Officer under duress? Was the RO assaulted? Was the RO prevented from announcing the results that had arrived already or hindered from leaving the collation centre without completing the collation process?

Meanwhile, in the Abia North Senatorial District election there are reports in the media that Chief Orji Uzor Kalu (APC) polled 31,201 votes while the runner-up Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP) polled 20,801 votes. The reports further state that there were 38,526 cancellations recorded during the exercise while the gap between the first place and runner stands at 10,400. If these reports are factual then this satisfies the condition for an inconclusive election which was not announced by INEC after the election.

The information on social media and unfortunately being supported by some political actors is that there were over five million cancellations from the 2019 Presidential Election are false. The results collation was on live TV and anyone could have collated the total cancellations as they were announced for each state.  These political actors are going further to say that this figure is greater than the gap between the winner and the runner-up and making diverse inferences. Some of these misleading information are even been discussed on mainstream media which is not appropriate and further misleads the public.

Election Monitor makes the following recommendations:

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

·        It is important for INEC to ensure its actions are always guided by the law especially as it is a creation of Nigerian Law. This is important because inconsistency in the actions of the Commission could jeopardize peace and security in the country.

·         It is germane for INEC to publicly state what the results were in the Abia North Senatorial District and the number of cancellations recorded. If the INEC figures tally with the reports in the public domain, then INEC needs to explain why the Abia North Senatorial District election was not determined inconclusive and who was responsible for this?

·        In the case of Imo West senatorial district election, INEC should immediately issue the Certificate of Return to the person who was returned as winner as this is in conformity with the current legal provisions on the matter.

·        INEC should seek audience with the National Assembly to see how the electoral laws can be amended to address situations where election officials are required to make returns under duress.

Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies

·        The Police and other security agencies should make public their deployments for the six supplementary governorship elections and state constituency re-run elections slated to hold on Saturday 23^rd March 2019.

·        The police should urgently investigate some political actors spreading unverified reports about intentions to ‘purportedly depose’ some traditional and religious leaders. These sorts of statements are inciting and must be quickly nipped in the bud so as not to lead to a breach of the peace especially considering the ethno-religious crises Nigeria has experienced in the past.

·        It is important for stakeholders to differentiate between the misconduct of some security agents and ‘militarisation’ of an entire election. The 2019 General Elections were not ‘militarised’ even though some personnel of security agencies including the military may have acted outside their legal mandate. The military performed in a largely commendable manner but areas where it fell short would clearly need to be identified and addressed.

Federal Government

·        The Federal Government should consider a surge of military activities in states of the North-Western region experiencing increasing banditry attacks so as to eradicate the menace of the armed bandits who have been terrorizing its inhabitants especially as these bandits are reported to be better trained and having more sophisticated equipment than conventional armed robbers.  

National Assembly

·        The National Assembly should be circumspect to avoid politicising the involvement of the military in the 2019 General elections.

·        Public hearings should urgently be called in both arms of the legislature to enable stakeholders present their findings from the 2019 General Elections.

The National Assembly should kindly review the Electoral Act (amendment) Bill before sending it to the president for assent. Attempting to resend the Bill without making necessary inputs especially as a result of recent developments from the 2019 General Elections would certainly not be helpful to the nation's electoral process. 

National Peace Committee

·        The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has filed a petition in court relating to the 2019 Presidential election. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has also requested to inspect materials used for the elections. Since both parties are involved in the legal process, it becomes necessary for both parties to agree to remain peaceful and urge their supporters to remain peaceful after the conclusion of the legal process. To this end, the National Peace Committee is encouraged to hold another peace accord signing event where the litigants will confirm their commitment to peace during and after the entire legal process is concluded.

Political Parties

·        While political parties and their candidates are free to seek legal redress, it is dangerous for these political actors to make unverified claims in the public especially as relates to the results of elections. Since these issues are before the courts, they would be adjudicated upon. However spreading information in the media about ‘perceived’ results could mislead some members of the public which would only heat up the polity unnecessarily.

Media

·        Journalists should endeavour to invest more effort in obtaining accurate figures relating to the conduct of elections. This will help in correcting guests who cite fictitious figures so as to intentionally mislead the public.

God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Signed

Abiodun Ajijola

National Coordinator