From Adanna Nnamani

As part of its commitment to ensuring the credible management of the 2023 general elections, the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts (ASSPT) has established 2023 Election Observatory to monitor, analyze and prescribe solutions to the issues that will affect the credibility and fairness of 2023 elections.

The objective of the observatory according to a statement signed by ASSPT‘s Director, Dr Sam Amadi on Monday, is to offer an independent analysis of the challenges of free and fair election and help the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its preparations towards the 2023 general elections.

According to the political institution, the major ingredient of fair and free elections is the fact that those who make decisions relating to election are manifestly independent and fair to all those who are affected by the decisions.

It therefore, urged the commission to consider and develop such procedures for decision-making on all issues requiring decision-making.

While commending INEC for its responsiveness to issues that have been so far generated for its attention, ASSPT advised the commission to recognize its constitutional obligation as a regulator to always insists on fair procedures that do not disadvantage any party or voting population.

“Specifically, we commend INEC for extending the deadline for collection of PVCs but urge it to ensure that all administrative changes required are made to ensure all registered voters who want to vote are able to collect their PVCs. INEC should recognize that any Nigerian citizen of voting age who has registered to vote must be accorded the opportunity to vote. By Section 47 of the Electoral Act, this means such a registered voter must receive from the INEC a Permanent Voter Card. The implication is that INEC is under a constitution obligation to deliver a voter card to all registered voter who has made effort to collect same. We urge INEC to improve its delivery system and overcome some of the managerial shortcomings recorded in the past weeks in this regard.

“We believe that the most important aspect of the electoral process is not the actual voting, but actions taken by the electoral management body to make voting free and fair. In this realization, we are not engaged in election monitoring but rather in observing and analyzing the processes and procedures that guarantee fairness and credibility of voting and declaration of results.” It stated.

The political institution advised INEC to do everything possible to ensure that all eligible voters who have properly registered for the elections can collect their voter cards before the election to avoid disenfranchisement of any Nigerian.

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“We understand that the logistics could be overwhelming for the institutions. But this election is a crucial one and its competitiveness requires more transparency and accountability than in the past.”it noted

To further ensure fair and credible management of the electoral process, ASSPT urges the leadership of the commission to work hard to produce clear procedures and rules that will guide the committee and other staff of the commission that will manage any aspect of the electoral process.

“Such procedures and rules must be developed through clear rule-making procedures and in a manner that ensure independence and non-partisanship of decision-making on electoral issues.” It said.

On the uploading of party agents for the February 25 election, the organization urged INEC to work hard and simplify its digital processes to enable efficient and timely upload.

It further recommended that INEC should recognize the comparative disadvantage of the less established parties and grant them amply opportunity to meet the deadline.

“This may require creating an Enterprise Data Upload Method such as; (a) Batch upload that we can export the database of the required agents in a standardized. CSV or Excel template; (b) Use of Application Programming Interface (API) to allow for digital handshake between Political Parties Agents Portal/ Web Platforms and INEC Agents Upload Portal;

“Furthermore, if INEC is not able to be flexible with its system to enable smooth upload, then it should, within its conveniences and schedule, consider to extend the deadline to enable effective participation by the less established parties, outside the Big Four to ensure fair participation in competitive election. These suggestions are made to provide fair and effective participation in INEC process and to avert any resort to litigation that may damage the schedules and the credibility of the electoral management body and the entire process.” The organisation counseled.