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A prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Osita Chidoka, has strongly criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its handling of the 2023 presidential election.
The PDP and Peter Obi’s Labour Party (LP) had contested the declaration of Bola Tinubu from the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the February poll. They petitioned the court to invalidate his victory, citing various grounds, including their claim that INEC failed to transmit results to the election portal in real-time.
However, the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) ruled that INEC had the discretion to choose the method of result transmission. Despite the court dismissing the petition and confirming Tinubu’s victory, Chidoka criticized the electoral commission for not adhering to its pre-election commitment to transmit election results electronically in real-time.
“INEC’s performance is a grave disappointment. As a Nigerian, I am deeply embarrassed to be associated with such an organization,” Chidoka expressed his dismay during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics show. He lamented INEC’s failure to fulfill its promise of real-time electronic transmission of election results.
He stated that this situation arose due to “the commitments INEC had made regarding the governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti, and Osun.”
“I appeared on this program and advocated for third-party verification of the INEC system to ensure that we have confidence that there wouldn’t be any hitches on election day. On the actual election day, INEC confirmed the existence of a glitch,” the former Aviation minister remarked.
In his view, INEC’s inability to conduct extensive testing of the election results portal, coupled with its defense, is a matter of great “disappointment.”
“Without even conducting system tests, it is disheartening that INEC resorted to legal proceedings to assert that failing to adhere to its regulations should not be a valid reason to annul an election,” he pointed out.
From his perspective, INEC’s challenges in handling such matters reflect negatively on the international stage, leaving him to ponder why Nigeria cannot follow the example of countries like India and Indonesia, both of which manage large populations and conduct more efficient elections.
