Arthena Centre Says Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi Elections Flawed By Substantial Non Compliance To Guidelines
The Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership, a non-partisan and not-for-profit (Think Tank) has said the result of 2023 off-cycle gubernatorial elections held in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not reflect the voting behaviour of the electorate
Osita Chidoka, Founder of the Athena Centre said this at the release of a comprehensive forensic review of the elections on Aug 20..
In a presentation monitored on television, Chidoka said the analysis uncovered some level of compliance with electoral rules but with troubling patterns of non-compliance,
The Centre inducted Presiding and Collation Officers for their roles in violation of electoral rules in non-compliant polling units and collation centres.
He said the available data obtained from the Certified True Copy of polling unit result, Bimodal Voter Verification and INEC Result Viewing Portal exposed cases of over voting which affected the election result substantially.
“Across the three states, significant votes were cast in polling units that failed to comply with INEC electoral guideline as follows: 22.5 percent in Kogi, 23.1 percent in Imo, and 15 percent in Bayelsa, thus substantially altering the final election outcomes.
“This review highlights the critical need for urgent reforms to improve compliance, accountability, and the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process before the elections in Edo and Ondo States,” he said.
