Maureen Okpe
Stakeholders in the electoral process has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on the need to rebuild the trust of electorates during and after elections.
This was stated at a roundtable for the media and civil society organisations (CSOs) on ‘re-examining the role of critical stakeholders in rebuilding trust in the electoral processes and institutions.
Executive Director, International Press Center (IPC) Mr. Lanre Arogundade said observations of election national and international observers in the 2023 general elections revealed that election stakeholders still have much work to do individually and collectively to rebuild trust in the electoral system.
Aogundade said the 2023 general elections came with unexpected challenges although it accomplished significant milestones in the use of technology for voting via bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS.
He noted that observations from the European Union Observation Mission and other stakeholders during the 2023 election showed that election stakeholders still have much work to do individually and collectively to rebuild trust.
He said the roundtable was being implemented by IPC within Component 4 of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria-Phase 2 whose goal is “to strengthen the role of the media in promoting democratic governance through Fair, Accurate, Ethical and Inclusive Coverage of Electoral Processes & Elections in Nigeria.
“Therefore, as we approach two off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States this year 2024 and in view of the next general elections in 2027, this activity is deemed necessary to aid the process of developing strategic interventions that can contribute towards regaining public trust while promoting the delivery of free, fair, peaceful and credible elections in the country.
He said major expectations from the roundtable and engagement were that the media and journalists shall do more to hold accountable the critical stakeholders in the electoral process who each must play the roles expected of them for the country to have credible elections.
“That the media and journalists should realise that they themselves are accountable and should be accountable to the society during the electoral processes and elections. In other words, being non accountable can also affect the credibility of elections.
On his part, the Chairman of the programme, Prof Okechukwu Ibeanu, decried the deficit of trust on some public institutions in the country and stressed the importance of rebuilding trust in the electoral process.
Ibeanu noted that areas trust can be rebuilt in the electoral process by enhancing the quality of the ballot, such as its promissory value, content value and the psychological value of the ballot.
Speaking further on “five things we know as trust in electoral process,” he said in a society where there is general deficit of trust on public institutions, it robs off on the electoral institution, adding that what other agencies do or fail to do could be interpreted as what INEC does.
“In a society where there is a generalised trust deficit in election, every election tends to worsen trust deficit; it is not necessary that trust deficit is the problem, what is critical is that when it drops below a certain threshold, it is very difficult to rebuild,” he said.
NEC director of voter education and publicity, Mary Nkem disclosed that the commission secured the conviction of three electoral offenders out of nineteen currently standing trial in various courts across the country, for electoral offences committed during the 2023 general election.
Nkem, who stated that the commission received the case files of individuals who were found wanting after thorough investigations, said INEC did not work in isolation but in harmony with security and antigraft agencies for the arrest and prosecution of electoral offenders.
“About 19 case files were prepared for the commission and filed at various jurisdictions of courts in Nigeria; it is worthy of note that three out of these case files have been concluded and convictions secured against them,” she said
