Nigeria Content Online

A coalition of
civil society organisations monitoring the 2011 general elections has
alleged that the presidential election results in about 12 states may
have been doctored. The coalition at a press conference in Abuja on
Tuesday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s
(INEC) to investigate the allegation.

Clement Nwankwo,
the executive director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC)
speaking on behalf of the coalition, Civil Society Election Situation
Room, commended Nigerians for their determination in voting and
protecting their votes in the presidential election.

Mr Nwankwo,
however, said that the collation process seems to have been the weakest
link in the election management process. “INEC appears to have been
ineffective in its oversight function as far as monitoring and
controlling the collation process was concerned. This state of affairs
raised doubts about the authenticity of some of the figures arising
from this process.” “Of particular note were the exceptionally high
turnout figures in Abia (77%), Akwa Ibom (75%), Bayelsa (85%), Bauchi
(63%), Cross River (63%), Delta (68%), Edo (74%), Enugu (62%), Kaduna
(65%), Imo (84%), Plateau (62%) and Rivers (76%) states. This was
against the national average of 53%. Such a high turnout is quite
atypical of Nigerian elections and we call on INEC to rigorously
investigate the authenticity of these figures.”

Some irregularities

Furthermore, he
said the group observers also noted a number of irregularities. “One
area of concern was significant instances of underage voting in Bauchi,
Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba States. In
particular, Bajoga, Funakaya Local Government Area in Gombe State saw
irate youths attempting to lynch the Resident Electoral Commissioner –
along with a number of journalists – who sought to enforce the
prohibition against underage voting.” He added that the contestants,
their parties and supporters have a corresponding duty to respect the
final results. “Any complaints at this stage should be channelled
through the appropriate election result verification and dispute
resolution processes. The Civil Society Election Situation Room
unequivocally condemns in the strongest terms the violence and killings
which have attended the announcement of the results.”

The Situation Room
of the coalition is made up of groups such as Action Aid Nigeria,
Transition Monitoring Group, Centre for Democracy and Development,
Justice Development and Peace Commission, Policy and Legal Advocacy
Centre, CLEEN Foundation, among others.