ECOWAS, Observer Groups Ask INEC To Act Against Misinformation
Princess-Ekwi Ajide Abuja
The Economic Community of West Africa states, ECOWAS, Election Observation Mission, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to review the system of uploading results in real time, enhance communication on the voting and collation process so as to discourage misinformation through social media.
A former president of Sierra Leone and Head of ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Nigeria, Ernest Bai Koroma, who made the call at a joint press conference of ECOWAS, African Union and Commonwealth election Observer groups in Abuja, said the Logistics delay in the commencement of the voting process in some polling stations as well as some technical challenges with the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, BVAS, machines affected the efficiency of the election process in some areas.
Accoding to the Head of ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Nigeria, who delivered his preliminary assessment of the country’s 2023 general elections, the set up of most of the polling units visited do not not adequately protect the secrecy of the voting process, and there were reports of ballot snatching and theft of BVAS in some States.
He commended the speed and transparency in the collation of electoral results but urged INEC to ensure prompt transmission and declaration of the provisional results.
Koroma, implored the authorities to apply Adequate mitigating measures in implementing major policy decisions during electoral periods in order to ease the burden of citizens participating in the electoral process.
On his part, the former president of Kenya and chairperson of African Union Election Observation Mission, Uhuru Kenyatta, said the mission deployed 32 teams of observers in 17 states visiting 438 polling units, where they observed that the electoral environment was generally peaceful in spite incidents of violence in some states.
The chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer group and former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki appealed to Nigerians to be patient and allow INEC and its staff conclude the peocess of pronouncing results effectively and peacefully.
They encouraged INEC to conduct a thorough post election review so as to draw constructive lessons.
