THE ROLE OF THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTION COMMISSION IN THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The electoral commission has always been a key component of ideas for democratic progress in Nigeria, and in other democratising African nations. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is Nigeria’s national Election Management Body (EMB) created under both the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 and the Electoral Act 2010 (Odudu 2019).  INEC is responsible for arranging referendums and elections for president, vice president, state governors and deputy governors, and the Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives. The INEC is also tasked with the responsibility of registering political parties, overseeing their internal operations and structure, conducting audits of their financial records, and publishing reports for the general public. It also has power to conduct voters registration, monitor political campaigns and undertake other functions that may be assigned by the National Assembly (Adebayo 2020). The commission is made up of a chairman, who also acts as the chief executive officer, and 12 members who are referred to as national electoral commissioners. The secretary to the commission is chosen from from the ranks of bureaucrats working inside the organization. The constitution also provides for a resident electoral commissioner for each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); it maintains administrative offices in all 36 states, the FCT and in all the local governments in the country. The Independent National Electoral Commission, often known as INEC, is the entity that will be responsible for holding the general election in 2023 throughout all 36 states and the Federal Capital Area. 

According to Onu (2023), the general elections of 2023, which were the sixth in the series of elections in the Sixth Republic, were exceptional in that it was the first democratic election held that will be making use of the Bi-modal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) since the beginning of democracy in Nigeria. The elections were overseen by Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, who was responsible who is the INEC chairman. One of the most important aspects of getting ready for the elections was the distribution of permanent voter cards (PVCs) and continuous voter registration (CVR), as well as the introduction of the Bi-modal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), which reads PVCs and verifies the voter by using his or her fingerprints and facial recognition. The electoral authority had to deal with a number of difficult security issues in order to be ready for the general elections. The elections took place in a period when the country was overwhelmed by general insecurity such as kidnapping, herdsmen threats and attacks and also majorly occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency. All the aforementioned issues have posed serious challenges to the conduct of the 2023 general elections (Onu, 2023).

Prior to the announcement of the election results there were insinuations from all quarters that there were assurances from INEC that there will be maximum security at the polling units, the elections will be credible as the polling unit results will be transmitted directly to the IReVs in the BVAS hence the electorates came out massively for the elections.

However, the exercise particularly the presidential and National Assembly elections were below par and described by the electorates and international observers as one of the worst election exercises in Nigeria hence the need for this study.

1. 1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Since the administration of general elections is a defining component of the democracy's integrity, and as general elections themselves are a vital feature of democracy, assessing the democracy's impartiality cannot be ignored (Birch, 2008 & 2011). On the other hand, it has been suggested that the general elections in 2023 will mark a significant turning point in the annals of Nigeria's political history.

As observed by Ikott (2023), Nigerians have been craving more transparent, free, fair, and credible elections since the return of democracy in 1999. From the era of manual processes, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has continued to introduce technological interventions to make elections better. These interventions haven’t been without challenges and time has in turn brought about more advanced solutions.

As the nation moves toward the 2023 General Election, a more advanced technological intervention called the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has been introduced and tested.

In 1999, voter registration, voting, result-collation, and transmission were done manually. Fast forward to 2016, and voter registration, accreditation, and result transmission became digitalized, from the Electronic Voters Register (EVR) to the Automatic Fingerprints Identification System (AFIS), to the Smart Card Reader (SCR), and recently, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) (Ikott 2023).

The need to make Nigerian elections more credible and transparent made the INEC introduce BVAS. Although this technology has been around for some time, it was first tested in the Isoko South Constituency Iby-election in Delta State on September 10, 2021. It was subsequently deployed in the Anambra State governorship election on November 6, 2021, and used again in the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections (Ikott 2023).

Despite these technological introductions, the 2023 elections has been marred with several complaints ranging from the refusal of INEC staff to upload polling unit results on the BVAS, to the late arrival of INEC staff to the polling units, to the beating and intimidation of voters, to the lack of transparency on the part of INEC.

Moroever, the 2023 elections were observed by people from almost every region of the globe. Observers from both inside the country and from outside agreed that the election was a failure. It is thus essential to conduct an evaluation of the performance of the electoral body in order to identify areas of weakness with the intention of addressing such weaknesses in preparation for future elections (Onu 2023).

These and many more are the reasons why this study the role of the independent national election commission in 2023 elections is to be carried out.

1. 1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The primary aim of this study is to examine the role of the independent national election commission in 2023 elections. Specific aims of this study are:

1. To find out the extent to which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) performed in the 2023 elections.

2. To determine whether there has been improvement in the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) compared to other elections.

3. To find out the short comings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 elections.

4. To proffer solutions to the short comings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 elections.

1. 1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will be answered in this study.

1. What is the extent in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) performed in the 2023 elections?

2. Has there been an improvement in the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) compared to other elections?

3. What are the short comings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 elections?

4. What are the solutions to the short comings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 elections?

1. 1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will educate the general public on the activities of INEC with specific focus on the management of 2023 general elections in Nigeria with a view of ascertaining the success and problems associated with the management of the election. This research will also be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.

1. 1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study focuses on the role of the independent national election commission in 2023 elections. Specifically, this study focuses on finding out the extent to which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) performed in the 2023 elections, determining whether there has been improvement in the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) compared to other elections, finding out the short comings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 elections and proffering solutions to the short comings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 elections.

1. 1. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents. However, the researcher were able to manage these just to ensure the success of this study.

Moreover, the case study method utilized in the study posed some challenges to the investigator including the possibility of biases and poor judgment of issues. However, the investigator relied on respect for the general principles of procedures, justice, fairness, objectivity in observation and recording, and weighing of evidence to overcome the challenges.

1. 1. DEFINITION OF TERMS

INEC: independent national electoral commission is an independent body that is saddle with the responsibility of voter’s registration and conduction of elections in Nigeria.

Election: An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations

Credible election: The legitimacy of democratic government is established, in large measure, by genuine elections, and they are much more than what happens on Election Day. A genuine electoral process requires an open pre-election environment in which citizens can participate without fear or obstruction; political parties, candidates and the media can operate freely; an independent judiciary functions fairly and expeditiously; and electoral authorities operate impartially.