By Olusegun Olanrewaju, David Lawani, Cross Udo, and Oludamisi Ojo
Forty-eight hours after Nigerians cast their votes in the much-awaited presidential and national assembly elections on Saturday, the electorate are still in the quandary as to the fate of their effort.

And barring last-minute ramped-up efforts, it is still uncertain the citizens can actually point out the compass as to whom their next president will be.

The inability to pin down the personality of the man to take over from President Muhammed Buhari, who ends his eight-year term in three months, is creating tension in the country.

By last night, only Ekiti State, out of 36 (excluding the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja), had declared the result of the presidential challenge between 18 political parties, of which only about three or four are really in the main contest held over the weekend, under the watchful eyes of the whole world.

In the Ekiti result released by INEC, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, won all 16 local government areas in the state.

According to the Ekiti State Returning Officer for INEC, Prof Akeem Lasisi, Tinubu polled 201,494 to beat his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s rival, Atiku Abubakar, who scored 89,554.

Third in the line is the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi who polled 11,397.

•Anxiety

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Meanwhile, loud complaints and fears are being expressed as concern and worry take over the stage of national discourse.

Yesterday, there were reports in sections of the media with calls on INEC to do the needful, and on time

The reasons for the delay in releasing the election outcome, even for the National Assembly component, were not readily available, but yesterday night, INEC made spirited efforts to attempt a rationalisation.

The electoral body attributed the delays to faulty mechanisms in the e-voting platform system, especially on the IReV election result portal.

Allaying the fears of its countrymen, INEC admitted that its system was experiencing portal challenges.

Voters from all parts of the federation expressed high expectations as they awaited the outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

For instance, it was reported that INEC failed to upload results from the various polling units across the 23 local government areas of Rivers State.

As of 7 to 8 pm on Election Day, elections were still being held in some polling units, it was gathered.

The Bi-modal Voters Accreditation machines malfunctioned in many areas, including Governor Nyesom Wike’s Ward 9, Unit 7 in Rumuiprikon, Obio/Akpor LHA of the state.

Newsmen and election observers waited for hours at the state collation centre for the 2023 election results, while residents either stayed at home or milled at polling centres waiting for results that were hard to come by.

Voters and party supporters nationwide said they had been eagerly awaiting the fate of their candidates as some of the results being bandied about are conflicting.

Fear of eventual manipulation of results or cancellation swelled.

•Tackles on INEC

Apart from the general anguished unleashed by Nigerians from across the board on the problems faced in the conduct of the election, particularly on late commencement of voting, absence of voting materials and officials, and snippets of violence, many voiced their anguish on the inability to vote and hear results on time.

For instance, at the Lekki Phase one area of Lagos Island on voting day, Saturday, voters complained to the ThisNigeria crew monitoring the election that they had been unable to vote, not even seeing voting materials or officials, even as at 1pm of the day when an election was billed to end around 2.45pm or thereabout.

•Call INEC to order NLC tells Buhari, warns against dangers of subverting peoples’ will

As tension begins to build up over the conduct and outcome of Saturday’s presidential and national assembly elections, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to order.

Labour also warned the INEC and those colluding with the commission not to allow the election to degenerate into a national security crisis.

Besides, the NLC warned the INEC, to desist from colluding with some individuals and political parties from tampering with the results of the presidential and national assembly elections.

Labour also frowned at the bloodletting, harassment, ballot box snatching as well as the wilful destruction of election materials especially in Lagos and Rivers States by political thugs in the presence of the security agencies and INEC officials, saying that such action cannot be interpreted any other way except that of collusion.

A statement signed by Congress President, Joe Ajaero, yesterday titled: Is INEC subverting Nigeria? called for urgent action by the Commission and key national stakeholders to ensure that the elections are free, fair, and credible.

It wondered why the commission decided to delay uploading election results from the BVAS to the INEC Servers.

NLC said the use of thugs in Rivers and Lagos states to mete out violence and intimidate voters in the states run counter to the tenets and practice of democracy.

The statement read, “We have had recourse to alert Nigerians earlier yesterday of our observations and reports that reached us from across the nation on the shoddy handling by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of their early Election Day activities.

“We talked of the dangers it posed to the entire process and its outcomes if nothing was done timely and wondered why that should be so given the huge resources invested in the Commission towards this Election. We called for urgent action by the Commission and key national Stakeholders to ensure that we have free, fair, and credible elections.

“Unfortunately, the situation rather than getting better got worse as the day went on with heart-wrenching reports from across the nation of vile activities of individuals associated with some Parties and utter collusion of INEC officials and Security agencies to compromise the Election and subvert the will of the people.

“Using of thugs in Rivers state and in Lagos to mete out violence and intimidate voters in these states run counter to the tenets and practice of Democracy.

“The case of the now dishonourable member of the federal house of representatives from Rivers state captured on tape calling for the killing of certain people is not only abhorrent but is a recipe for further violence in our Polity.

“The threats as captured by Mc Oluomo of the Parks and Gardens in Lagos state warning certain voters to stay away from the Polling centres across the state violates decency and negates the principle of democratic engagement.

“The bloodletting, harassment, Ballot box snatching, and wilful destruction of election materials especially in these two states even in the presence of members of the Security agencies and INEC officials cannot be interpreted any other way except that of collusion.

“It calls for urgent investigation and action to reassure the people of their safety as the election runs its course.

“The inability of INEC to prevent the recurrence in this election of the ills of past elections speaks volumes of its ill-preparedness for this election as can be demonstrated in the late arrivals of critical election materials to the Polling Units and the almost deliberate tampering of the BVAS in many Polling Units including the outright refusal of its operatives to upload results from the BVAS to the INEC Servers in total violation of the Rule of the election and INEC’s election guidelines.”

On the alleged untoward activities of the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Lagos State, the NLC said, “We are also alarmed by the activities of the Lagos state Resident Election Commissioner (REC) who may never have hidden his inclinations and dispositions to compromise this election in Lagos state before now and who from information received may currently presiding over the cooking of election results contrary to the choice of voters at the various Polling units across the state.

“If this is true, that may explain why Polling Unit officers were reluctant to transmit the BVAS reports for the Presidential elections to the official INEC Servers.

“This is completely unacceptable and we want INEC to ensure that any cooked result from any REC is not only rejected but the offenders be made to face the full weight of the Law.

“INEC must understand that not uploading the results to its Server expeditiously as expected creates an avoidable crisis of confidence and imperils the entire process.

“We continue to express our deep concerns over the apparent manipulation of results in Lagos and Rivers states and demand that the real results as captured by the BVAS be uploaded without fail.

“We feel embarrassed about the explanation of INEC that materials arrived late in some areas because of the distance between the localities and the storage centres. We know that Polling Units located very close to such centres were also heavily affected by INEC’s tardiness and apparent refusal to make them available as required.

“We demand that INEC investigates the activities of one of its officials in the ICT department who may have been responsible for technically jamming the airwaves making it difficult for BVAS results to be transmitted to the Servers. He was a former Commissioner in Lagos State and his name is Femi Odubuyi.

“It is important to restate that the beauty of democracy is in its participatory transparency which builds a belief amongst the people thus deepening the trust and confidence of the citizenry in its outcomes. When actions that negate these principles are allowed to fester then, this bond that keeps the people cohering is broken and may lead to social anomie.

“A country like ours must deliberately build and cultivate these fine tenets so that all the tears and wears may be repaired encouraging national healing. What we therefore see may be a conscious attempt to undermine our nation and unleash further social crisis on a nation that is already tottering and on the verge of implosion.

“The NLC feels compelled to warn INEC and the Security agencies of the dangers of subverting the sovereign will. They are the umpire in this election and must be seen as above board and acting within the ambits of the Law and its Guidelines. The deliberate frustration of the BVAS remains unacceptable and any result outside of what is transmitted or contained in it is not acceptable to Nigerians.

“NLC calls on all Nigerian workers and citizens to be on alert to protect our nation from the hands of those who have foisted the current suffering on us and now clearly want to subvert our collective will as expressed in this election cycle. It is our civic responsibility to protect democracy and indeed our nation.

“We call on the military and the police to ensure the sanctity of the ballot and protect the lives of the citizenry who they swore to protect with their arms. This is not only their constitutional duties but also their moral obligations. We call on them to live up to this challenge and protect the process as enshrined in our statutes.
“It is on this note that we call on the President of the Federal Republic, Buhari to rise to the occasion and call the electoral umpire (INEC) to order. The President ought to seize the redemptive power in this situation and demand that INEC returns to the Rule book for election conduct. It is only by doing this that he will reassure Nigerians of his innocence in this unfolding drama.

“A nation at the precipice like ours cannot be stoking fires in its house filled with dry straws. INEC should not be the one that will strike the match. We worry that when people’s will are subverted, they may be forced to take laws into their hands the stage seems to have been set for such conflagration and all hands should be on deck to avert it. INEC may be doing more harm than SARS to our people if it continues on this present trajectory.

“Once again, we warn that only an outcome that is adjudged by the people to be a full expression of their sovereign will can guarantee acceptance and peace. We must therefore in pursuit of these ensure that INEC stops this collusion and subversion across the country to deliver fair, credible, and acceptable outcomes for this election.

“We warn INEC and others not to allow this election to degenerate into a national security crisis. This is avoidable and it is only by allowing the sovereign will prevail that we can guarantee national peace. The belief that it is going to be business as usual should be discountenanced as the tension since after the casting of votes should be enough signal to anybody planning a heist of the vote. INEC must sample the pulse of the people out there before embarking on any action. We will surely not keep quiet!

“Nigerian citizens have spoken through their votes yesterday. INEC is a repository of their voices and conscience. It must give it free rein and expression! Suppressing it will amount to subversion! Subverting it poses a danger not only to our democracy but to our nation! The next call belongs to INEC and we await its action. It is either it sabotages our people and betrays the nation or it stands with the people! Anything short of announcing the result that reflects the true will of the people subverts the nation and will be resisted by the people.”

*INEC allays fears

As the anxiety and complaints grew, the commission came out to defend itself.

Yesterday, he said he was fully aware of the challenges with the INEC Results Viewing Portal.

In a statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, INEC acknowledged the importance of IReV in the results management process, hence the need to quickly address the problems.

Allaying fears of the electorate on the election outcome, Okoye noted in the statement that the portal was only experiencing challenges and not sabotage, adding that the IReV was secured.

The statement read, among others, “The Commission is aware of challenges with the INEC Results Viewing Portal. Unlike in off-season elections where the portal was used, it has been relatively slow and unsteady.

“The Commission regrets this setback, especially because of the importance of IReV in our results management process.”
Okoye added, “The problem is totally due to technical hitches related to scaling up the IReV from a platform for managing off-season state elections, to one for managing nationwide general elections. It is indeed not unusual for glitches to occur and be corrected in such situations.

“Consequently, the Commission wishes to assure Nigerians that the challenges are not due to any intrusion or sabotage of our systems and that the IReV remains well-secured.”

He said the technical team was working assiduously to solve all the outstanding problems, adding that users of the IReV “would have noticed improvements since last night.”

The commissioner further stated, “We also wish to assure Nigerians that results from the polling units, copies of which were issued to political parties, are safe on both the BVAS and the IReV portal.

“These results cannot be tampered with and any discrepancy between them and the physical results used in collation will be thoroughly investigated and remediated, in line with Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022.”

Appreciating the concerns of the public on the delay, Okoye lamented the situation and welcomed “various suggestions that we have received from concerned Nigerians. It is important to avoid statements and actions that can heat the polity at this time or promote disaffection towards the Commission.”

“We take full responsibility for the problems and regret the distress that they have caused the candidates, political parties, and the electorate,” he added.