The just-concluded presidential election recorded 1,289,607 rejected votes nationwide, according to the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Paul Ukah writes.
4.5% of total vote cast
In the just concluded presidential election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) specifically stated that no fewer than 1,289,607 votes were rejected for sundry reasons including blurted voting.
According to expert analysis, the figure shows that it constitutes 4.5 per cent of the total 28,614,190 votes cast in the election. It was observed that the voided votes were more than the total valid ballots cast in each of 34 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
It was only in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina that valid votes exceeded the rejected votes across the country. The three states recorded 1,891,134, 1,663,603 and 1,555,473 valid votes.
The 2019 figure is 445,088 or 52.7 per cent higher than the 844,519 votes declared invalid nationwide in the 2015 presidential election.
Voided votes constituted 2.8 per cent of the total 29,432,083 ballots cast in 2015, representing an increase of 1.7 per cent compared with that of 2019.
Further analyses revealed that the presidential election conducted on February 16 also recorded more voided votes compared with that of 2011. In fact, 2011, a total of 1,259,506 votes were rejected, making the latest figure higher by 30,101 votes or 2.3 per cent.
The ratio of rejected to total votes cast is also higher in the 2019 election compared with the 3.1 per cent recorded in 2011, representing an increase of 1.4 per cent.
This trend, according to political analysts, means that Nigerian voters are getting less educated in the balloting system, hence the need for more voter education in the country.
On state basis, Kano recorded the highest voided votes in the 2019 polls, accounting for 73,617 or 5.7 per cent of the national total.
Lagos and Katsina followed with 67,023 and 63,712 or 5.1 and 4.9 per cent of the total. Ekiti recorded the least rejected votes with 12,577 or 0.9 per cent of the total.
In some further specific details for instance, the Niger state collation officer, Mrs Angela Miri, said elections were cancelled in 105 Polling Units (PUs) with 71,237 registered voters in the affected Pus.
Miri, who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State, disclosed this Tuesday at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) National Collation Centre, Abuja.
According to Miri, smart card readers were functioning in some of the polling units due to lack of communication network, especially in PUs which were far from the local government area headquarters.
Also, she attributed the large numbers of void votes to cases of ballot box snatching and cases of violence, which said were brought under control by security agencies in some of the affected areas.
She explained that specific cases leading to the cancellation in each of the PUs had been submitted to the collation centre secretariat.
In Ebonyi state also, the INEC state collation officer, Prof Chukwuemeka Eze, 54,668 votes were cancelled in the state due to card readers’ related issues.
Eze, who is also the vice chancellor Federal University of Technology, Owerri, disclosed this while giving the breakdown of the election results for 13 local government areas (LGA) of the state at the INEC National Collation Centre in Abuja.
According to him, “of the total number of 1,392,931 registered voters, 391,747 voters were accredited, while 379,394 votes were cast and a total of 359,131 were recorded as valid votes, but 20,263 were rejected in the 13 LGA of the state”.
Situation room demands explanation
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, an elections observer group, has demanded that the INEC provide clarification on why over 1 million votes were cancelled in the presidential and national assembly elections.
The Situation Room said: “There is a lack of clarity in the rationale for cancellation of polls. We have recorded 1,084,358 cancelled votes across 1175 polling units in 18 States. The pattern of this cancellation requires some close interrogation to show fairness and objectivity.”
It was reported that over-voting, card reader malfunction and violence are reasons provided for the cancelled votes.
“Situation Room demands that INEC provide clarification on rationale and compliance with its guidelines regarding cancellation of polls,” it said.
The organisation, which comprise of over 70 CSOs working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria, rated the February 23 election as worse than 2015 owing to the violence and other logistical problems.
“A careful look at some of the figures of accredited voters and the total number of votes show discrepancies. As at 6:47pm Tuesday 26th February, the discrepancy was a total of 513,214, in 27 states including Nasarawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Edo States and the FCT. Situation Room calls on INEC to transparently address this confusion before the completion of result tabulation,” the statement further read.
“Situation Room calls on INEC to address the discrepancies in the vote tally and provide cogent explanations for the rejected votes and clearly clarify what amounts to cancelled votes.
“Our observers were denied access to 10 Ward Collation Centres in Abia state, 7 in Lagos state and 5 in Akwa Ibom and Ogun states respectively. Other reports received indicate that there was no collation in some wards; rather, polling unit results were directly collated at local government level, raising questions about violation of the collation process.”
Parties also
The major political parties also rose in demand of explanation from the electoral umpire on the massive cancellation of results. The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Nasarawa state governorship candidate Mr Labaran Maku, had called for investigation into the cancelation of more than 150, 000 votes from the presidential and National Assembly election in the state.
The INEC cancelled 157, 591 votes from Nasarawa state for alleged over-voting, a development Maku said was questionable.
Maku, said Nasarawa state, just like in the 2015 general elections, recorded the highest number of overall cancelled votes.
He wondered why there was over-voting since voters were only allowed to vote if they were accredited with the card reader.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has colluded with the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government in the state to cancel votes in areas they lost in order to give them advantage.
“If there was no collusion between them, then INEC should investigate all Presiding Officers with records of over voting with a view to persecuting them for electoral crimes,” Maku added.
The former minister of information alleged that both INEC and the security agencies were not neutral at all in the just concluded elections.
