The real losers of 2023 Nigerian general elections are not the electorates who were deprived of their rights to freely choose candidates.
The biggest losers are President Muhammadu Buhari; INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu; President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu; and Nigeria as a political entity. Except for Bola Tinubu who carries the burden of legitimacy arising from the flawed process and the total miniature votes garnered, the others will live with the scars and collective guilt slammed on the country by the ethical deficit in the delivery process of the elections.
A consensus negative opinion on the flawed elections by observer groups from the European Union, African Union, Economic Community of West African States , Commonwealth, The International Republican Institute , National Democratic Institute , Joint Election Observation Mission , four former African presidents, and Transition Monitoring Group , is an affirmation of global skepticism about Nigeria’s reputation.
Besides, whatever is left of Buhari’s legacy might have been further weakened by the naira redesign and currency swap policy, which brought untold hardship to citizens during period of the elections. Perhaps, the intention of the policy was to eliminate monetary inducement and vote buying, unfortunately, Buhari and the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, were outwitted by politicians through the use of extra-constitutional and procedural means to contrive and achieve sinister objectives.
Specifically, Clause 38 of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022 states: “Upon completion of all the Polling Unit voting and results, procedures, the Presiding Officer shall:- Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit direct to the collation system as prescribed by the commission. Use BVAS to upload a scan of ES8A to INEC Result Viewing Portal , as prescribed by the commission.
Implicitly, Bola Tinubu was not only elected by a minority of voters when viewed against 25 million persons that voted. And in a country of over 200 million people, skepticism resulting from INEC’s multiple irregularities are unhelpful to his presidency. Perhaps, this accounts for the absence of national pomp and celebration that would have heralded his victory.
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