Politics

2023: 22 States At Risk Of Election Malpractice , CSOs Raise Alarm

Published

3 years ago

January 27, 2023

Editor

With about 28 days to the general elections, findings by a coalition of ten civil society organisations have identified 22 states with high risks of manipulation and malpractices.

The findings also revealed that while 12 states had medium election manipulation risks, three States were classified as having low risk of manipulation.

The CSOs stated these issues during the presentation of the Election Manipulation Risk Index first iteration report.

According to The PUNCH, three EMRI iteration reports would be released on the 2023 general election.

The ten organisations were International Press Centre; Institute for Media and Society; Partners for Electoral Reform; Albino Foundation; Nigerian Women Trust Fund; The Kukah Centre; Enough is Enough Nigeria; Center for Journalism Innovation and Development; SBM Intelligence; Dataphyte; and Yiaga Africa.

The event was attended by Samson Itodo, Dr. Akin Akingbulu, Samson Ezenwa, Cynthia Mbamalu, Emmanuela Azu, Lanre Arogundade, Yemi Adamilekun and Jack Epelle.

The report said, “As preparation for the 2023 general election reaches advanced stages, attempts to distort election outcomes using manipulation strategies are on the rise. Key actors are devising strategies to punctuate electoral preparations and neutralize the impact of laudable reforms aimed at enhancing the integrity of the electoral process.

“The political interference with INEC operations, tampering with the voter register, frivolous litigations and resistance against electoral technology like BVAS and IReV, and administrative lapses are electoral risks that may potentially impugn the integrity of the 2023 elections.

“Election manipulation risks are high in twenty-two states of the federation. The states are classified as high-risk due to the presence of more than three EMRI variables. The states include Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Oyo,Osun, Ekiti, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Kaduna, Bauchi, Adamawa, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa.

“EMRI reveals twelve states with medium election manipulation risks. The states include Bornu, Yobe, Nasarawa, Benue, Kogi, Zamfara, Kebbi, Ogun, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Cross River. Three states are classified as low risk. They include Gombe, Ondo, and Federal Capital Territory.”

The CSOs also made some recommendations for the Independent National Electoral Commission to mitigate the risks

While calling on INEC to deploy trusted, incorruptible, and experienced administrative secretaries, Heads of ICT, and operations to high risks states, the coalition suggested intense scrutiny of applications for ad-hoc personnel recruitment.

The report said, “Applicants should undergo competency tests, and names of successful applicants should be published for public scrutiny. INEC should create a system for submitting objections against partisan and compromised ad-hoc officials. INEC should intensify oversight and monitoring of its officials in high and medium-risk states. This includes establishing a reporting mechanism that enables citizens to report concerns and complaints against INEC officials.”

The EMRI recommended a clean-up of the voter register to remove multiple registrants, fictitious names, and underage registrants, while greater transparency should be done with the management of claims and objections submitted by citizens to INEC.

The findings also recommended diligent prosecution of INEC officials responsible for the manipulation of the voter register and voter suppression, while enhanced monitoring and oversight of INEC officials managing the PVC collection process should be done to prevent manipulation and deliberate denial from issuing PVCs to certain persons.

To check election fraud, the CSOs made the following recommendations.

They are, “Increase public awareness of mitigation measures in the 2022 Electoral Act against election manipulation. INEC should ensure adequate training of its staff to enforce compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC Regulations and Guidelines Election litigation.

“The judiciary should dismiss cases instituted to undermine the preparations for the general elections. The Nigerian Bar Association should take disciplinary actions against legal practitioners engaged in election manipulation using the judicial process.”
PUNCH

Politics

Obasanjo, Atiku, Obi Meet In Abuja

Published

8 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Editor

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi met in Abuja on Saturday.

The trio were among prominent political figures who attended the Tambuwal Colloquium, titled “Leadership, Service and Statesmanship at 60,” held at the New Event Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, in honour of the 60th birthday of former Sokoto State Governor and Senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

Atiku confirmed his presence at the event in a post on his X handle, stating that he had arrived at the venue for the colloquium organised to mark Tambuwal’s milestone birthday.

The former vice president also shared images of himself, Obasanjo and Obi at the event.

The event attracted political leaders, statesmen and stakeholders from across the country.

Politics

PANDEF Wades Into Rivers Crisis, Sets Up Seven-member Mediation Team

Published

13 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Editor

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has intervened in the political crisis in Rivers State, calling on all actors to sheathe their swords and embrace peace in the interest of the development of the state and the region in general.

Expressing concern that the political disagreement involving the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly might degenerate to total lawlessness, the Board and National Executive Committee of PANDEF set up a seven-member reconciliation team to resolve the issues.

The team, which is headed by a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, has six other members.

They are Senator Obende Domingo (Vice Chairman); Chief Essien Nduese; Dr Timiebi Koripamo-Agari; Chief Mike Ejiofor; Mrs Nella Rabana-Andem, SAN; and Prince Godwin Okotie, the Deputy National Secretary of PANDEF, who will serve as the secretary of the team.

Politics

Wike: Why Removing Fubara Will Be Difficult – Ex-Commissioner

Published

2 days ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

A former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tam-George, has said that attempts to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara would be difficult to sustain, citing what he described as the governor’s performance record and the lack of concrete allegations against him.

Tam-George made the remarks on Thursday while speaking on Prime Time on Arise Television, arguing that the impeachment process being initiated against Fubara was to scuttle his chance for a second term.

According to him, Governor Fubara has continued to place the needs of the people at the centre of his administration, with visible interventions in rural development, housing, education and healthcare.

He said this, in his view, has made it difficult for opponents to justify moves to remove the governor from office.

Tam-George also called on the All Progressives Congress, APC, to intervene, arguing that the party should not allow what he described as the humiliation of a sitting governor.

He said: “Well, all I think he needs to do is to do exactly what he’s been doing from the beginning, which is to place the people at the center of gravity of his administration, prioritize the needs of the people, so that the people can see the direct impact of government action in their lives.

“And that’s exactly what he’s doing in terms of rural development, in terms of housing sector transformation, which I mentioned that he is doing the same in education sector and in health.

“So if he continues, if he persists in placing the people’s need at the center of focus of his administration, there is no way they are going to be able to justify this kind of shenanigans.

“Because, if you look very carefully at the so called articles of impeachment, you will see that there is no specificity in terms of any infraction by the governor or his deputy.

“What they are trying to do is to make sure they scuttle the administration so that the governor doesn’t then get to the point where he will be seeking a second term.

“Let me be clear, just two days ago, Nyesom Wike was at one of the local governments, and he made it clear in a moment of epiphany, he made it clear that, look, if Governor Fubara were to get a second term in office, it will amount to his own political burial.

“So all of these things that we are seeing the so called impeachment proceedings they’ve initiated, it’s actually an effort to try to scuttle the prospects of the governor coming for a second term, and I don’t see how they will succeed.

“If you look at the so called articles of impeachment, as I said, they lack specificity in terms of the kind of infraction that they allege that the governor has committed. He has done nothing wrong, and they will see how the process will play out.

“My sense, and in fact, if I were to advise the governor, my sense is that he should just maintain the people, retain the people at the center of gravity of his administration, meet their needs, run a transparent administration as he always done, and then the truth will come out, and he will be able to defend the administration.

“I think the the governing APC should also step in because they can’t possibly allow the governor of the office with probably one of the best performance records in the country to be humiliated by some of these members of the assembly.”