For Immediate Release
January 17, 2025
Lagos, Nigeria
2024 ONDO GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION: CIVIC HIVE QUESTIONS INEC ON ELECTION RESULT INTEGRITY AND IRREGULARITIES.
Highlights Electoral gaps, Instances of Malpractice, and the Calls for Transparent Result Collation Framework
Civic Hive, a CivicTech organization, committed to strengthening democracy, fostering civic engagement and participatory governance through innovative technology expresses concern over the Collation process and results of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) of the 2024 Ondo Election Governorship Elections that held on Tuesday, 16th November, 2024.
Accordingly, Civic Hive in its analysis observed that the conduct and result collation framework by INEC as we have now, stresses the entire electoral process and allows for result manipulation, malpractice and internal sabotage of results collation process by electoral officers. Calling for an urgent need to prioritize election monitoring at polling units and the movement of ballots from the PUs to other levels of collation through innovations and new avenues that registered voters can vote seamlessly without undermining the integrity and transparency of the electoral system.
Key Findings from the Report are as Follows:
- Non-priotized PU Monitoring system by party agents
In observing the election, where we deployed 106 ward level observers to selected wards in 9 LGAs which are Akoko south west, Akure south, Ese-odo, Idanre, Ilaje, Okitipupa, Ondo West, Ose, and Owo LGA. We discovered that the majority of the key political parties do not have agents in the polling units in most locations. This invariably indicates that a lower priority is given to election monitoring at the polling units which gives a high chance of vote rigging, ballot box stuffing, voter intimidation and electoral malpractice.
- Incongruences in Election Results
During our analysis where we collated the official election results as announced and declared by INEC at the State Collation Centre in Ondo State and also carefully analysed 99.44% of results from 3,933 voting places in the 18 LGAs posted on IREV. We uncovered a level of disparity between what is announced by INEC and what is uploaded by Electoral Officers on the IREV portal. Also, we uncovered that the votes announced by INEC are not a representation of what is on IREV.
As announced by INEC vs what was uploaded on IREV, APC’s votes increased by 1,812; PDP votes increased 4,119, and to our shocking dismay, LP’s votes were drastically reduced by 12,328! This further shows the ineffectiveness of INEC’s result collation.
- Irregularities Result Collation
At the third level of analysis where we deployed 106 ward level observers to selected wards in 9 LGAs across Ondo state, our team followed the election results from the different polling units to the ward level collation centre. We shockingly discovered that some parties polling units results did not appear on the ward collation sheet. As stated in the report, our investigation showed that some votes that were recorded at the PUs, and uploaded by INEC officials to IREV but said results did not make it to the ward collation sheets and in some cases the numbers were inflated and in other cases deflated.
For instance, in Aponmu Ward (Under Akure south LGA), the total number of votes received by APC, as collated on the IREV, is 1,571. Meanwhile, what was recorded on the signed ward collation sheet is 1300. For PDP, the party received a total number of 504 votes but the ward collation sheet showed an increase by 106 votes. For LP, what was collated on IREV is 77, but what was recorded and signed at ward level is 4. Across the 4 wards in Akure South LGA, it can be observed that LP’s numbers were severely reduced. This is also evident in the APC votes and, to some extent, the PDP votes.
Recommendations
In light of the findings above, Civic Hive recommends an immediate launch of an internal audit by INEC on result collation framework and effective monitoring techniques to ensure compliance of PU results conforms with results at all levels of collation. This is to get rid of the existing flaws within the current system, such as vulnerabilities to manipulation, fraud, or inefficiencies. A more prudent way to collate results is for results to be collated and declared at polling units and transmitted electronically to a central point where the results are aggregated and announced.
Also, Political parties should deploy trained party agents to each polling unit to observe and document the voting process, from the opening of polls to the counting and announcement of results. This is because their presence to a large extent ensures transparency and accountability of votes as they witness the entire voting process and that it is conducted in a manner that adheres to electoral laws and regulations.
Lastly, Civic Hive also recommends that INEC and the National Assembly should start looking at new opportunities and lessons from other democracies on innovations and new avenues that registered voters can vote on election day seamlessly without undermining the integrity and transparency of the electoral system. The widening gap between registered voters and accredited voters continues to be a concern.
In our mission to build strong institutions, promote democratic principles, and improve citizens’ participation and involvement in governance, we invite members of the media, civil society organizations, political stakeholders, and the public to read the report, and do their research. Remember to check out the comprehensive analysis of the 2024 Ondo State Governorship at here
For inquiries or further details, email us at info@civichive.org
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