Athena Center’s New Report Calls for Urgent Electoral Reforms in Nigeria

A group known as the Athena Center for Policy and Leadership has made far-reaching recommendations for improving Nigeria’s often disputed elections following a thorough analysis of past elections.

The group’s Chancellor and former Aviation Minister, Chief Osita Chidoka, published the center’s findings.

In a recent interview with Arise TV anchorman, Charles Aniagolu, Mr. Chidoka explained that the report resulted from meticulous research aimed not to discredit past elections it understudied, but to “identify gaps in the system and suggest measures to enhance the integrity of the electoral process.”

The full report can be accessed here.

Approach

Chief Chidoka said his research team adopted a data-driven approach, using information from the electoral body – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). They accessed the INEC’s IREV results, submitted a Freedom of Information request to obtain BVAS accreditation data, and analyzed the ward, local government (LG), and state collation results. Additionally, they reviewed reports on polling units where elections were either not held or were canceled.

He said his team subsequently digitized this information and focused on polling units that failed to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act during the collation of results. By excluding the non-compliant polling units and recomputing the results, they were able to derive a clearer picture of the elections.

Major Findings

Below is a list of some of their findings during their work.

1. Positive Use of Technologies: INEC’s election technologies, particularly the BVAS machines, positively impact Nigeria’s elections and should be consolidated. The research showed that, in most cases, the results were not pre-rigged by INEC, and manipulations occurred at the polling unit level after elections were concluded.
2. Votes Matter: The study showed that Nigerians’ votes count. Chief Chidoka said that voters should come out to vote but be alert to maintain the integrity of the process.
3. Ad-hoc Local Election Staff: His group also observed that many ad hoc presiding and collation staff needed to be core INEC staff. Often, these people were from the candidates’ immediate localities, who may be politically biased and prone to manipulating results in favor of preferred candidates.

Recommendations for Improving Elections

Based on the findings, Chief Chidoka proposed several recommendations to enhance the credibility of future elections:

1. Upload of BVAS Accreditation Data: INEC should ensure that all BVAS accreditation data is uploaded to the IREV in real-time during elections to prevent discrepancies.
2. E-Collation Module Integration: The BVAS machines should include an E-Collation module, allowing presiding officers to enter collated results directly into the BVAS. Party agents should sign off on these results before entering them into the machine. This would ensure a more transparent and accountable process.
3. BVAS-like Collation Technology: INEC should employ BVAS-like technology at the ward collation level, ensuring that results are electronically transmitted through the E-Collation system. These results should be manually copied onto the appropriate results sheets and uploaded to the IREV.

Chief Chidoka also raised concerns about INEC’s adherence to the Electoral Act 2022. His group highlighted some clauses in INEC’s “Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2022” that contradict the Act, particularly regarding the collation of results. He argued that these clauses must be deleted to ensure the guidelines align with the Electoral Act.

Electoral Act Review

He also called on concerned civil society organizations to take legal action to compel INEC to comply strictly with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, stressing the importance of verifying and confirming accreditation values at all collation levels before announcing results. He also urged that the BVAS machines used in elections may be tampered with once after all legal disputes concerning the elections are concluded.

Furthermore, Athena’s research report recommended that the parliament amend the Electoral Act to include clear and specific electronic transmission and collation mandates. This, he argued, would close the legal loopholes that INEC might exploit, so that confidence in the electoral process can be restored.

As Nigeria gears up for future elections, such as the offseason gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo States in September and November respectively, the insights and recommendations from Chief Chidoka’s report could serve as a blueprint for ensuring that the people’s will is accurately reflected in the outcomes.

The call for a more transparent and legally compliant electoral process is not just a necessity but a demand for the very foundation of democracy in Nigeria.

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