The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has documented how the collation process of the 2019 election results by Nigeria’s INEC was opaque, chaotic, vulnerable to manipulation and, in some locations, violently disrupted.
Dated July 2019, and made public Thursday by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the report, also graphically depicted that five states – Lagos, Osun, Kaduna, Rivers and Sokoto – experienced significant problems with the ward level collation.
The CDD which relied on reports from its observers deployed across the country during the elections, also identified five challenges which plagued the collation of results of the 2019 election as (1) INEC missteps and misconduct; (2) deliberate denial of access to observers and media; (3) logistical shortfalls; (4) intentional disruption by politicians, political thugs and party agents; and (5) intimidation of collation staff by security agents.
It warned that failure to resolve the challenges which attended the collation of results at the ward centres would embolden election spoilers, weaken public trust in INEC and undermine the credibility of election results.
It said the five states accounted for 46 per cent of incidents of concern, noting that the situation was especially bad in Rivers State, where clashes between political thugs and security personnel, “reflecting de facto proxy battles between top politicians in the state,” disrupted several collation centres.
“Surprisingly, the three states most affected by the Boko Haram insurgency — Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe — were not among the states with very high level of reported collation challenges,” the report observed.
“Kano, Katsina and Plateau — each of which saw voter turnout in excess of one million — also did not record a high rate of collation incidents.”
The report stated that misconduct and mistakes by INEC staff undermined ward-level collation in many locations, especially in cases where the commission’s ward-level officers or ad hoc staff lacked sufficient knowledge of the rules and procedures designed to ensure successful and credible results collation.
“Some staff lacked the basic arithmetic skills needed for timely and accurate collation of results, thereby leading to errors in the result sheets, inconsistencies in collated figures, and delays in the time-sensitive process — the longer it takes to conclude the collation process beyond the stipulated time for concluding the process, the more doubts are created in the minds of voters that something untoward is happening to compromise the integrity of the collation process and, therefore, of the elections,” the report noted.
The research highlighted such states as Kaduna, Ondo and Bauchi, where incompetence of collation officers created errors and delayed the process.
“In Kaduna State, for example, collation was slowed by late arrival of materials and the incompetence of some presiding officers. Observers reported that Governor Nasir El-Rufai returned to his ward collation centre at 6pm on election day to observe the counting of ballots but left out of frustration four hours later as the presiding officer continued to struggle to calculate the polling unit results,” the report said.
“In Ondo State, some ad hoc staff made errors in entering the results in the sheets, causing unnecessary delays and confusion. In one such instance, an ad hoc staff member erroneously entered the House of Representatives result on form EC8B1, but labelled it as the Senate result.”
It further stated that in addition to problems caused by human error, observers also noted several instances of misconduct by officials involved in the collation process.
“In Bauchi State, for example, collation at the largest WCC in the state capital—located at Baba Sidi Primary School in Bauchi Local Government Area (LGA)—was halted for 48 hours due to widespread alteration of polling unit results sheets by INEC and ad hoc staff. Observers reported that the INEC collation officer filled out all of the forms incorrectly using illegible handwriting, resulting in confusion and delays that created opportunities to alter results,” the report submitted.
“Observer reports also revealed widespread failures to follow correct INEC-mandated processes regarding ward-level collation. Many election staff appeared to be confused or lacked knowledge of these procedures. Local and state INEC staff also demonstrated a willingness to ignore procedures. Instead of seeking guidance from their superiors, they readily used their own discretion to change collation procedures and relocated collation centres with little or no notice.”
While highlighting the challenge of denying observers and the media access to collation centres, the report posited that the action cast a doubt on the transparency, integrity, and credibility of the collation process.
“In Delta State, observers and journalists were denied access to the INEC collation centre in Ughelli to monitor the collation of results,” the report said.
“Media reports claimed that a special team of mobile policemen were stationed at the three entrances of the collation centre to prevent observers from accessing it.”
The report pointed out that the disorganisation and poor planning on the part of INEC also hampered ward-level collation activities, stating that in many wards across Nigeria, INEC officials caused confusion, delays and created opportunities for election malfeasance by shifting or failing to clarify the location of WCCs.
“In Abia State, local INEC officials in Aba South LGA were undecided over where to locate the WCC until after the polls closed, thereby creating confusion and significantly delaying the collation process,” the report said.
According to the CDD report, ward-level collation was significantly impacted by the logistical problems that characterised other aspects of the 2019 elections.
“These included inadequate transport for election personnel and sensitive election materials as well as a complete lack of lighting at many collation centres,” the report further stated.
“Given its sizeable budget, it is unclear why INEC was unable to provide basic tools required by the Commission’s ward election officers and ad hoc staff to conduct ward-level collation.
“INEC claims that contracts were awarded for the purchase of necessary tools such as rechargeable lanterns, yet they were not available at most locations.”
On the impact of the activities of armed men on the collation process, the report submitted that in many wards across Nigeria, security personnel were observed intimidating election workers or were alleged to have done so.
It stated that in other locations, security agencies failed to deploy an adequate number of personnel to safeguard election officials and sensitive materials, despite receiving dedicated government funding to do so.
It further stated that in some areas, members of the security forces played an active role in disrupting collation activities.
“In Lagos State, observers at one WCC in the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital noted that ‘security agents chased everybody outside with guns when the results were being collated,” it reported.
“Malfeasance by soldiers and other security agents especially disrupted ward-level collation in Rivers State.
“Elections in several LGAs in the state were heavily disrupted by security agencies tasked with safeguarding the process. As a result, tens of thousands of voters were disenfranchised.
“In Okrika LGA, for example, security personnel invaded the INEC office in the LGA and snatched official collated election results. Before doing so, the same security agents had threatened collation centre officials by shooting their firearms into the air.
“Earlier, during ward-level collation, a team of soldiers led by an army officer suspended collation and ordered his men to take away all materials, including results being collated by election officials.
The report also listed the inappropriate activities of political thugs and party agents as major factors which contributed to collation challenges.
It noted that in some instances, political thugs and party agents unduly interfered in the process, threatened collation officials and generally violently disrupted the collation processes.
“In Akwa Ibom State, INEC cancelled results from five wards in Essien Udim LGA after Senator Godswill Akpabio allegedly attempted to manipulate the outcome of the election, leading to the disappearance of the INEC electoral officer for the area. This delayed collation of the senate election results,” the report state.
“In Rivers State, political thugs widely disrupted ward-level collation in Okrika LGA. Heavy gunfire prevented election staff from safely collating results.
“In Ahoada West LGA, violence involving thugs loyal to the two main political parties, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) forestalled ward-level collation efforts.”
The report recommended the clarification of internal guidelines and the improvement of the processes for conducting collation in line with international best practices. It also recommended a transparent and proactive publishing — via the INEC website and through civil society organisations – official results for all election contests, showing a full and accurate breakdown of figures.
It recommended an improved training for junior INEC personnel and ad hoc staff involved in collation activities and the use of permanent signage to identify WCC locations and ensure they are properly equipped with the basic tools needed to undertake collation.
Other recommendations include holding soldiers and other security agents and their commanding officers accountable for unprofessional or illegal conduct while deployed on election duty and the issuance of clear orders to security agents to refrain from obstructing the work of accredited observers and media or preventing them from accessing collation centres.
Political parties were also urged to hold their party agents and other members accountable for their election day actions, particularly those present at the collation centres as well as publishing the names and locations of party agents.
Parties are to discourage the use of political thugs and formalise penalties for party members involved in mobilising and financing them.
The report reads in part:
The integrity of this collation process is critical to the overall success and credibility of Nigerian elections. If conducted in a transparent, organised and well-regulated way, collation can help produce credible election results and boost voter confidence in the process. In the 2019 elections, however, civil society observers across Nigeria saw a collation process that was chaotic, open to manipulation and, in some locations, badly disrupted and opaque.
Although ward-level collation is just one of the many challenges to Nigeria’s electoral the process is an important vulnerability that receives little domestic scrutiny or international attention. Left unresolved, Nigeria’s widespread ward-level collation problems will continue to embolden election spoilers, weaken public trust in INEC and undermine the credibility of election results.
Ward-level collation disruptions and manipulations give opportunistic political parties and individual candidates opportunities to dispute the outcome and legitimacy of elections, especially in Nigeria’s most politically contentious wards. Such disputes frequently exacerbate local political tensions, empower local political thugs and even help fuel long-running communal conflicts.
Context: CDD’s 2019 Ward-Level Collation Monitoring Effort
Ahead of the 2019 election, CDD—in partnership with Premium Times and the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC)—trained and deployed over 8,809 INEC-accredited ward-level observers to polling units and ward collation centres in every state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on 23 February 2019. Using Zabe SR – an application specifically designed for election observation – CDD observers recorded data on the operational status and conditions at individual polling units in real-time and provided qualitative descriptions of the voting process and incidents affecting the collation exercise. Four key takeaways emerged.
Key Takeaway 1: Ward-Level Collation Faced Five Main Challenges
The five main challenges CDD observers identified were:
Missteps and misconduct of INEC staff;
Deliberate denial of access to observers and media;
Logistical shortfalls;
Intentional disruption by politicians, political thugs and party agents;
Intimidation of collation staff and other malfeasance by security agents.
Key Takeaway 2: Collation Problems Significant in Five Key State
Five states—Lagos, Osun, Kaduna, Rivers and Sokoto—experienced significant problems with the ward-level collation. Together, these states accounted for 46% of incidents of concern noted by our observers. The situation was especially bad in Rivers State where clashes between political thugs and security personnel—de facto proxy battles between top politicians in the state—disrupted several collation centres.
Key Takeaway 3: INEC Less Transparent in 2019 than in 2015 and 2011
One of the most noticeable—and avoidable—missteps INEC has made following the 2019 election is its refusal to publish detailed election results to its website. INEC has only published national-level totals for the 2019 presidential election, choosing to keep sub-national results data hidden from public view. This opaque approach reverses the tangible—albeit incomplete—progress on results transparency that accompanied the 2011 and 2015 elections.
Furthermore, in its rush to certify state-level results, INEC has yet to publish a verifiable and credible paper trail for their ward-and local-level results that demonstrate to Nigerians and the world how they arrived at their official results. Without evidence voters are asked to trust that INEC’s final results have been calculated accurately and free from outside manipulation despite numerous reports of disruptions to ward-level collation.
CDD Provides a No-Nonsense Recommendations
With the aim of improving ward-level collation in forthcoming elections, CDD makes the following recommendations:
INEC should improve processes for conducting collation in line with international best practices. These can be trialled in off-cycle elections, ahead of the next national ballot in 2023.
INEC should also transparently and proactively publish—via the INEC website and through civil society organisations—official results for all election contests, showing a full and accurate breakdown of figures down to polling unit level. It should work towards developing a way of transparently making ward-level results easily accessible to, and searchable by, the general public.
INEC should discipline or, if necessary, investigate and then prosecute its personnel alleged to have been involved in misconduct during the collation process.
Nigeria’s security agencies should hold its personnel—and their commanding officers—accountable for unprofessional or illegal conduct while deployed on election duty.
Security agencies should also notify the public—via the press and online—which units will be undertaking election security duties in each local government area of each state to ensure that individual unit can be held accountable for their conduct on election day.
Political party leaders must commit to holding their party agents and other members accountable for their election day actions, particularly those present at collation centres. They should discourage the use of political thugs and formalise penalties for party members involved in mobilising and financing them. Publishing the names and locations of party agents would be a welcome first step.
Civil society organisations should continue to lobby INEC to improve its transparency and dissemination of election tabulations and results, particularly at the ward and local government level. Freedom of Information Act requests and legal actions (as necessary) can ensure that INEC is compelled to publish full and detailed results data for all elections held since 2015.
Further amendment of the Electoral Act (2010) will allow for the introduction of electronic vote transmission which will reduce error in the calculation process and improve the pace of collation.
The international community and development partners should provide international election observers with the support and protection needed to observe after-hours collation at the ward and local government levels.
International entities should also impose travel and financial sanctions against individuals involved in disrupting ward-level collation and other kinds of election malfeasance as well as their political sponsors