Following controversies and disputations dogging the outcome of the 2023 general elections, a source in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has admitted that some state Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) worked to undermine the process.
Issues like the failure of IREV and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to work correctly drew heavy criticism from stakeholders.
OsunDaily News reports that one of the controversies that rocked the 2023 election was in Adamawa State, where the REC, Hudu Yunusa Ari, usurped the powers of the Chief Returning Officer, Mele Lamido, and unilaterally announced the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Candidate, Senator Aishatu Dahiru, as the winner, when collation had not been concluded.
However, defending the Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, an inside source in the commission, admitted that there were glitches in the electronic transmission of presidential election results.
He blamed RECs, politicians, and some stakeholders for the drawbacks, insisting that the INEC Chairman was determined to use technology to drive credible polls via BVAS and IREV.
The source told Vanguard some politicians and parties worked extra hard with some RECs to undermine the process.
He said: “We saw all the attempts some politicians, even parties, made to abort the use of technology for the polls. Some people even went to court about four times, and there were also efforts to remove Yakubu on this premise, but he stood his ground.”
The INEC source added that that was vindicated as post-election investigation showed that BVAS’s performance at the polls was over 88 percent successful.
He said: “Some RECs were clearly partisan, for instance, 19 RECs were appointed close to the polls, and many of them were clearly partisan, and to make matters worse, some were deployed to states where they had sympathy for the ruling parties. Should we also blame INEC or the Chairman for this?”
He disclosed that INEC had carried out disciplinary measures against partisan RECs to the extent of recommending to President Muhammadu Buhari the sacking of two RECs who had been found wanting in their conduct in the elections.
