The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has condemned a report by a national newspaper which blamed the electoral umpire for the petitions filed against the 2023 election results by political parties.

The newspaper had reported that the increase in the number of petitions filed by different political parties and candidates on the election results announced by INEC was over the inability of the commission to conduct credible elections in the country.

Reacting, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement on Thursday, October 19, said: “It is 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.”

Olumekun noted that the newspaper’s report contained 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.

He stated that the claim that the State Assembly elections were held in only 28 states across the country was 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.

The INEC official said: “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.

“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.

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“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cases decided so far by the tribunals, it would have discovered that out of 1,196 petitions, 712 were dismissed and 179 withdrawn.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.

“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.”

Olumekun stated that the grounds for challenging the outcome of an election as provided in Section 134 of the 2022 Electoral Act are not limited to the conduct of election by INEC, saying an election may be questioned on the ground that the winner of the election was not qualified to contest the election by virtue of his academic qualifications and age, among others.

The INEC official said 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, adding: “Under the law, INEC has no power to screen candidates. Similarly, only the courts can disqualify candidates.”

He, however, reiterated INEC’s commitment to continuing partnership with the media, saying the “pen should be used to strengthen rather than impugn the integrity of public institutions particularly where basic statistics demand that we should be circumspect.”

The Star