By Vincent Ujumadu
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Anambra State, Dr. Queen Elizabeth Agwu, has defended the electoral body, insisting that INEC does not have the capacity to rig elections.
Agwu made the remark in Awka while speaking as a special guest at a stakeholders’ engagement and sensitization workshop on Mandate Protection ahead of the November 8 Anambra governorship election. The event was organized by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
She argued that politicians are usually the ones who attempt to manipulate the process, and when they fail, they turn around to blame INEC.
“INEC is just a small item in the big electoral process. The Police, Army, Civil Defence, FRSC and others are all involved. We have returning officers for the state, 21 local governments, 326 wards, and all polling booths. These are ad hoc workers.
On election day, you won’t see INEC officials outside. We only see the result sheet once, when results from all locations are collated. The truth is, money exchanges hands during elections, and it is instigated by politicians. When someone loses, they shout that INEC has rigged them out. We are destroying ourselves in the name of politics,” she said.
Agwu also faulted the accuracy of the voters register, noting that in the past, names were indiscriminately dumped into it, resulting in ghost entries. She explained that this was part of the reason why voter turnout percentages have remained low.
She stressed that “those who sit somewhere to write results are wasting their time because such results can never find their way into the authentic result sheets.”
In his contribution, election consultant to the CDD, Mr. Chibuike Mgbeahurike, expressed concern over the poor participation of stakeholders in the electoral process, which he said had contributed to anomalies.
According to him: “I don’t know the last time we were served with a credible election in this country. Look at Anambra: instead of telling the people how they intend to serve, politicians are busy attacking each other. Even voters now say they won’t vote unless they are paid, and this is because politicians have failed to sensitize them.”
He stressed the need for greater political enlightenment, grassroots-focused campaigns, and active mandate protection to restore credibility to Nigeria’s elections.
Discussions at the workshop covered electoral security, voter authentication and verification, prevention and detection of malpractice, and transparency in election monitoring.
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