JAGISTS

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is yet to upload the results of more than 28,000 polling units where Nigeria’s presidential election was conducted.

INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, in the early hours of Wednesday, declared All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate Bola Tinubu the winner.

There are 176,846 polling units across the 774 local government areas in the country but the outcomes of voting in 15 percent of those locations remain unknown.

As of 11:00am on March 2, five days after the general poll, submitted results were 148,741 units, leaving a deficit of more than 28,000.

The electoral body said the cumulative votes of the remainder are not up to the difference of votes between Tinubu and first runner-up Atiku Abubakar.

Even so, critics wonder why it is taking so long to transmit the results of places with supposed small voting populations when they should have been among the first to send.

INEC faces criticisms over the elections marred with malfunction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), over-voting, thugs’ attacks on venues, officials and electorates.

The preliminary statement presented by the International Republican Institute, IRI, and National Democratic Institute, NDI, joint mission was damning.

On Monday in Abuja, the observers noted that the “inadequate communication and lack of transparency” by INEC “created confusion and eroded voters’ trust”

The combined effect of these problems disenfranchised Nigerian voters in many areas,” said Joyce Banda, the leader and ex-President of Malawi.

The IRI/NDI team, however, commended citizens for demonstrating commitment, despite large crowds and long waits at polling units.

Curiously, the missions of the Commonwealth and the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, did not categorically fault INEC or comment on the irregularities.

At a press conference, the Commonwealth Observer Group focused more on the participation of the people in the process and a peaceful post-election era.

Chairperson and former South Africa President, Thabo Mbeki advocated restraint and advised candidates with grievances “to address disputes through prescribed legal channels”