The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has revealed its findings on the 2024 gubernatorial election in Edo State, Southern Nigeria.
The choice
Gubernatorial elections were held out of cycle on Saturday.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday night, declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election.
INEC announced that Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Asue Ighodalo, who polled 247,274 votes.
Labour Party (LP) candidate Olumide Akpata came third with 22,763 votes.
Meanwhile, the PDP and its candidate, Mr Ighodalo, have rejected the election result and have expressed interest in challenging the declaration in court.
NBA Report
The NBA, a professional association of lawyers in Nigeria, announced the group's observations during Saturday's elections in a report.
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The report was jointly signed by Bolatumi Animashaun, the NBA's election monitoring team leader, and Mobolaji Ojibara, the secretary general.
The report was published after the election, although the exact date is unknown.
He said the NBA National Chairman, Afam Osigwe, deployed the group's election monitoring team to polling units during the elections in the state.
According to the report, this was done to observe the extent to which all participants complied with electoral laws and regulations.
Late arrival of officials and materials
In the report, the NBA said its monitoring team observed that election materials and officials arrived late at many polling stations, particularly in Benin City, the capital of Edo state.
“It was noted that these delays were caused by logistical problems that hampered the smooth start of the voting process,” it said.
The association also said that they observed that in some polling stations neither INEC personnel nor electoral material were deployed.
“In Egor District I, Electoral Unit 30, for example, there were no electoral materials or INEC officials at all, which effectively prevented any voting activity from taking place in this electoral unit,” he said.
“This lack of preparedness in certain areas is a serious problem that must be addressed to ensure that the elections take place smoothly.”
Vote buying
The NBA said there were instances of vote buying at polling stations.
“Several attempts were observed where political party agents discreetly tried to influence voters with monetary incentives,” the report said.
He expressed concern that despite efforts to prevent it, money has continued to influence the fairness and transparency of Nigeria's elections.
The observation corroborates a report by a leading election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa, that there were incidents of vote-buying in different polling stations and districts in the state on Saturday.
Voter apathy
The NBA also claimed there was voter apathy in the election, explaining that the number of voters who turned out to the polls during the election was “remarkably low” considering the number of registered voters.
“In Voting Unit 10, District 4, out of 1,026 registered voters, only 10 were accredited,” he said.
The report, however, noted that some people with physical disabilities defied the odds to cast their vote.
He added that physically challenged people and other voters showed resilience in voting despite heavy rains in some areas.
BVAS malfunction
The NBA also said that while the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices worked effectively in most polling stations, they experienced technical problems in some areas.
“For instance, in Ward 7, Electoral Unit 18, Ugbekw LGA, an ad hoc INEC official reported that the BVAS device was displaying the message ‘No election in progress’ despite the fact that the voting process was already underway,” he said.
Other observations
The NBA said it also noted that the heavy deployment of security officers during the election helped “maintain order and ensure that potential security threats were mitigated.”
The group, however, regretted that shootings took place in Oliha, District Two, which hosts five polling stations in the Egor Local Council Area.
He added that subsequent observations showed that the number of male voters outnumbered that of female voters.
What can be done?
The NBA suggested that INEC prioritize the timely deployment of electoral materials and personnel to avoid delays in subsequent elections.
The group also said there was a need to “intensify” voter education campaigns to restore public confidence in the electoral process and encourage greater voter participation, especially among women and young people.
He stressed that stronger measures must be implemented to prevent political parties from using money to influence voters.
“This includes stricter monitoring at polling stations and more transparent processes to safeguard the integrity of the electoral system,” he said.