Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, a former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Director of Voter Education and Publicity said that the trust in INEC is at an all-time low.
Osaze-Uzzi said this as the electoral body prepares for the governorship and state house of assembly elections on March 18, 2023.
The conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25, 2023 has been widely criticized as falling short of Nigerians’ and stakeholders’ expectations both at home and abroad.
Osaze-Uzzi, speaking live on Channels Television’s program on Thursday about glitches with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the upload of results to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).
“You could not envisage a situation with the tension of the country.
“With the uncertainty and all that has happened in the last 10, 12 day, I don’t think INEC could afford doing any wrong again,” he said.
“Things went awry last time around and confidence, I think, is at an all-time low. Some people may begin to get over it, but I think the vast majority of Nigerians are satisfied.”
Even the commission, he believes, is likely dissatisfied with the outcome.
“Trust is a fragile thing,” Osaze-Uzzi stated.
According to the former INEC director, the electoral umpire’s trust has dwindled over several election cycles.
“INEC conducted elections in 1998, 1999 – people just wanted to get rid of the military, it wasn’t perfect but it was acceptable. In 2003, people were not happy. 2007 was the epoch of it all. Trust was next to zero,” he said.
Osaze-Uzzi, on the other hand, added that with personnel changes and reforms implemented, trust began to grow, reaching a peak in 2022.
“By the time you brought more technology, by the time you conducted Osun, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo, and then they saw the way technology improved the process, Osun was picture-perfect. People [said], ‘They could really do this.’
“Expectations were now high and people were ready to forgive the sins of the past. I think at that time, INEC became one of the most trusted public institutions,” he said.
Furthermore, the former INEC director chastised INEC for prioritizing timing over process in the conduct of the presidential elections.
“There was a call to be made: Do you delay things and ensure you follow the process to the letter, even if it means delaying this thing for a week or whatever period of time?
“Or do you save time, save tension, just go ahead and bypass some of the processes laid down in your regulations? I think it took the former. This time around, I think process triumphed over timing,” he said.
