INEC refutes report claiming 94% contested posts await tribunal

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has described media report that 94 percent all the elective positions contested in 2023 general elections are being contested at the tribunal as incorrect.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said this in a statement yesterday in Abuja.

Olumekun said that the attention of the commission had been drawn to a front-page report by a newspaper in its Wednesday edition titled: “INEC’s credibility sinks as 94% contested posts await tribunal.”

He said that the commission would have ignored the report if it did not emanate from one of our country’s flagship and reputable newspapers.

He said that, however, the report under reference contained inaccurate figures, a mix-up of pre-election and post-election cases.

He added that the report skewed comparative perspective and a headline that suggests that election petitions draw from the action or inaction of INEC.

Olumekun said that a basic fact check on the information regularly published by INEC and available on its website would have shown that in 2023, elections were not conducted in 1,280 constituencies, including 782 state assembly seats.

Olumekun also faulted the report blaming the pre-election cases arising from the conduct of primary elections by political parties on INEC.

He said those were intra-party cases involving party members who joined INEC and sought reliefs binding on it, even as 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cases decided so far by the tribunals, it would have discovered that out of 1,196 petitions, 712 were dismissed and 179 withdrawn.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 percent), 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, “ Olumekun said.

He added that the said report also analysed the total number of petitions as if they were filed against the outcome of the elections in 94 per cent of all the elective positions without considering details of the cases.

Olumekun said that multiple petitions were filed by candidates and political parties as petitioners in a single constituency.

He added that it was also pertinent to note that the grounds for challenging the outcome of an election as provided in Section 134 of the Electoral Act, 2022 were not limited to the conduct of the election by the commission.

Olumekun said that an election might be questioned on the grounds that the winner of the election was not qualified to contest the election by virtue of his academic qualifications, age, and other things.

He said that many of the petitioners did not challenge the conduct of the elections by INEC but the eligibility of candidates or their nomination by political parties.
He added that under the law, INEC has no power to screen candidates, as only the courts can disqualify candidates.

Olumekun said that as at Monday Oct 16, out of 82 governorship election petitions, 72 (87.8 percent) were either dismissed or withdrawn by the petitioners.

Olumekun said it was inappropriate to solely assess the credibility of INEC or the conduct of the 2023 General Election on the number of petitions filed by litigants who, in any case, have the right to do so under the law. “(NAN)