The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday said it is inappropriate to rate the 2023 general polls by the number of petitions filed in courts.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun in a statement said the electoral body has been drawn to a report titled, ‘INEC’s credibility sinks as 94% contested posts awaits tribunals.’

He said the report suggests that the election petitions draw from the action or inaction of INEC, stressing that many litigants unfortunately file election petitions over the most improbable cases, and later withdraw them, or they are dismissed by the tribunals.

Read full statement below:

INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION

PRESS RELEASE

MEDIA REPORT ON ELECTION PETITIONS AND THE CREDIBILITY OF INEC

The attention of the Commission has been drawn to a front page report by The Guardian (Nigeria) newspaper in its edition of Wednesday 18th October 2023 entitled "INEC's credibility sinks as 94% contested posts awaits tribunal". The Commission would have ignored the report if it did not emanate from one of our country's flagship newspapers which has over the years established a reputation for the quality of its stories, incisive analysis, factual accuracy, balance and lately the innovative use of infographics.

However, its report under reference contains inaccurate figures, mix up of pre-election and post-election cases, skewed comparative perspective and a headline that suggests that election petitions draw from the action or inaction of INEC.

First, basic fact check on the information regualrly published by the Commission and available on our website would have shown that in 2023, elections were not conducted in 1,280 constituencies, including 782 State Assembly seats. On the contrary, elections were conducted in 1,491 constituencies across the country made up of 1 Presidential, 28 Governorship, 109 Senatorial, 360 House of Representatives and 993 State Assembly constituencies. Similarly, the claim that State Assembly elections were held in only 28 States of the country is made on the lazy assumption that no such elections were held in the eight States of the federation where executive elections are held off-cycle. As every attentive Nigerian knows, the tenure of legislators is tied to the legislative houses which is a fixed term of four years from the date the Assembly is inaugurated unlike the term of office of the executive which begins from the date they take the oath of office.

Secondly, the report blames the pre-election cases arising from the conduct of primary elections by political parties on INEC. These are intra-party cases involving party members in which they join the Commission and seek for reliefs binding on it. As everyone knows, INEC does not conduct primaries for political parties.

Thirdly, in pursuit of their right under the law, many litigants in Nigeria unfortunately file election petitions over the most improbable cases and later withdraw them or they are dismissed by the tribunals. If the report had taken time to analyse the outcome of the cases decided so far by the tribunals, it would have discovered that out of 1,196 petitions, 712 were dismissed and 179 withdrawn. This means that in 891 cases (74.4%), the tribunals found no merit in the petitions and affirmed the result of the elections conducted by INEC. It is surprising how the mere filing of petitions constitute a blot on the integrity of the recent elections conducted by INEC when in fact they constitute an integral part of the democratic process.

Fourthly, the said report analysed the total number of petitions as if they were filed against the outcome of the election in 94% of all the elective positions without considering details of the cases. Multiple petitions were filed by candidates and political parties as petitioners in a single Constituency. For example, in one State in the South South geopolitical zone of the country, eight petitions were filed challenging the Governorship election out of which seven were dismissed and one withdrawn. Therefore, the number of election petitions filed in respect of all elective offices will certainly outnumber the total number of constituencies/elective offices. To spread them across the constituencies and proceed to calculate the percentage is to count some constituencies several times which is methodologically problematic and statistically illogical.