By Adadareporters
The Catholic Church, weekend, described the 2023 general elections as the worst in Nigeria’s history.
The global church stated this in its final report released by the Church and Society Department of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) signed by its director and executive secretary of Caritas Nigeria, Rev Fr Uchechukwu Obodoechina, and presented to the public in Abuja.
The church expressed regrets that despite an improved electoral act, grants from various bodies both local and foreign, and the enthusiasm by the electorate, as well as the enthusiasm by the electorate, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies deliberately failed woefully to deliver.
The church recommended that there be punishment for those who compromised and manipulated the results of the elections.
The stand of the Catholic Church on the election was anchored on the report of its Church and Society Department team, as well as the Caritas Nigeria, dispatched across the country to monitor the elections, Obodoechina said.
The church noted that the 2023 general election was marred with several irregularities, including violence, intimidation, disenfranchisement, vote-buying, logistics challenges, et al.
Quoting Obodoechina, “The election witnessed violence, intimidation, disenfranchisement, vote-buying, logistics challenges that affected the credibility of the election, including the perceived compromise from security agencies that aided the activities of hoodlums.
“Obviously, a majority of Nigerians are disappointed with the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies despite the huge financial and logistics support it received.
“However, the 2023 general elections have come and gone, and had unfortunately left mixed feelings in the minds of most Nigerians. Most electorate are feeling disappointed in the outcome of the elections.
“This was because they did not feel the results, as declared by INEC, reflected the wishes of the majority of Nigerians. One of the greatest flaws of the 2023 elections was the inability, unwillingness, and outright refusal of INEC to upload results from Form EC8A to the IReV portal in real-time from the polling units as was severally promised before the conduct of the election.
“Presently, 10 political parties have instituted 1, 341 cases, representing about 90 per cent of the 1, 490 contested seats; and 346 judges have been engaged in different tribunals, making the 2023 elections the most litigated, contentious, disputed elections in the history of Nigeria’s electoral democracy.
“There are chances that the 1, 341 petitions may not be the last since some other cases have not come to the fore.”
In spite of the huge sum expended on the polls, INEC earmarked more than N3 billion in defending cases brought against it at various courts due to the outcome of the elections, the church noted.
Recall that the European Union’s report earlier berated INEC, under Prof Mahmood Yakubu, for working below standards in the 2023 elections.
