CSOs undertake a review of INEC’s conduct of elections in Southeast zone

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) domiciled in the five Southeastern States of the country have vowed to undertake a thorough review of the conduct of elections by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) in the zone with a view to ascertaining their impact on development of the zone.

The CSOs who deliberated during Roundtable held at Fontana Hotel, Independence Layout, Enugu on Wednesday, as Nigerians reflected on dividends of democracy on June 12, also resolved to scrutinize judicial actions of the various courts in the country and how their actions or lack thereof had impacted the zone in the last 25 years.

Highlighting on the theme: Judiciary, INEC and CSOs – Matters arising on the development challenges of Southeast, keynote speaker Dr Emeka Onomamadu, former Resident Electoral Commissioner, Enugu State and lead Presenter Barr Eze Eluchie noted that the conduct of free and credible elections in all states in the zone had become a huge challenge since 2019.

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“It has become almost impossible to conduct free and fair election in the southeast zone or see citizens happy because election tribunal protected their votes in the face of high rate of election related violence, maleficence and other election misdemeanors in the southeast.

“According to different researches, southeast is ranked among the zone where it is almost impossible to conduct free, fair and credible elections, thus classifying southeast as a zone with high risk of election infractions, yet these infractions have never led to the applaudable nullification of elections or judgments that .reflects what the citizens and CSOs observed.

“In the face of these challenges, politicians are mocked or advised to “…Go to Court…”

” But too worrisome is the fact that the election tribunal judgments appear as indictment on the series of election observation reports by CSOs, CBOs and other International Observers.”

The CSOs further observed that the the identified challenges had steadily chipped off voter turnout during elections making the zone the lowest voting zone during each general election.

“This has seriously affected democracy in southeast, and Nigeria as a whole”, they argued.

With the benefits of hindsight the CSOs expressed worry that the zone has come off worse in the nation’s democracy journey so far, pointing that the inability to conduct free and fair elections in mostly three states of the southeast is partly responsible for poor development and general insecurity in the zone.

“It was noted that in the southeast, election is conducted in a war like situation and the courts simply approve the fraudulent elections.

“Politicians in the southeast have done worse than what the military did to democracy to the extent that what we refer to as elections are mere democracy coup, The greatest achieve in our democracy, if there is any, is the total capture of state powers by both the federal and state tiers of government that have eventually eliminated democracy at the third term of government, which is the LGAs.

“Today in the southeast, Imo State is the only southeast state that has not conducted any LGA since 2015.”
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The group decried the kind of elections in the southeast particularly the just-concluded 2023 off season election in Imo state where opposition political parties were neither allowed to put their posters or book hotels in the entire state.

“After the unforgivable 2020 supreme court decision which handed the governorship to a political party that it had initially declared that had no candidate by disqualifying their candidate, Southeasterners hoped that the November 11 election in Imo would be used to right all the wrong by the conduct of the freest fairest and most credible election.

” Imo citizens and election observers were disappointed that instead of redeeming the situation, that election was worse than what was witnessed in the 2023 general election. The CSO observers reported different kinds of fraud ranging from over voting, vote buying, intimidation, collation at unknown locations, etc.

” Regrettably, that fraudulent election was said to have met substantial compliance without reasons showing how it met substantial compliance.”

The Group wondered why claims of over voting could not be instantly verified by INEC officials, the collation or returning officers via the IREV using their laptops or android phones. Rather they are cajoled to go to court with such assurance of what the outcome will be.

Ruling that democracy has failed in Imo and some states in the Southeast the group resolved to mount a vanguard for true democratic practices in the zone.

Accordingly, the Southeast CSOs have resolved amongst others to:

“Form a coalition to continue to monitor the Judiciary and the remaining elections cases in the southeast Nigeria, particularly in Imo and Enugu State where a state constituency election is yet to be completed,

“Calls on the NJC and higher courts to seriously scrutinize what transpired at the tribunals and ensure that the remaining ongoing Imo state gubernatorial election case receives the form of objective conclusions reflecting what happened during the election so as to improve the trust of citizens on election process.

“To source for all the gubernatorial election judgments, analyze them, identify and publish identified injustices clothed in judicial technicalities.

“Educate and mobilize citizens to place more attention on political cases and their judgments as well as carry advocacy to the NJC, NBA and other necessary bodies to ensure that the judiciary does not repeat what the Supreme Court did in Imo state in any part of the southeast Nigeria.

“Advocate for observations reports of election observers to be admitted as evidence during post-election trails.”

In a joint statement signed by Nnenna Onyejiuwa, Citizens Center for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDSOR) and Emma Acha of the Southeast Network on Social Accountability the group equally called on INEC to apologize to citizens for promising them much and totally disappointed them during the conduct of 2023 general election as well as off cycle election in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa States.