Despite boasting the biggest electoral register in Africa of 93.4 million voters, fewer than 25 million valid votes were counted in Nigeria’s 2023 election.
Chatham House, an independent policy institute based in London, has criticized Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for its ill-preparedness in the wake of the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections.
According to Chatham House’s report on the presidential poll, INEC’s performance was marred by controversies and irregularities, indicating that the lessons learned from previous elections were not fully applied.
The report cited logistical failures, delayed opening of polling units, and voters’ inability to locate their polling units as evidence that INEC was not adequately prepared.
The report also noted that INEC failed to follow its own guidelines for uploading result sheets from polling units onto its portal for public viewing, despite receiving a significant amount of funding from the nation’s budget.
The report called for greater accountability and electoral integrity to ensure Nigeria’s path to recovery and stability.