However, Oyekanmi described the 2023 elections as “a huge
success and the most painstakingly planned”.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
believes that the 2023 general election was a huge success, despite some
challenges that the commission had to grapple with,” he said.
“It was the most painstakingly planned election and for the
most part, our plans were successfully executed.
“Just last Friday, we
released the official report of the election, which consisted of 526 pages,
organised into 14 chapters and fortified with 60 tables, 14 boxes and 10
graphs. There is a lot to chew in the report.
“And for the first time ever in Nigeria’s electoral history,
the 2023 elections unveiled unprecedented political diversity, with four
political parties capturing gubernatorial seats, effectively breaking the
duopoly that has long dominated the political scene.
“Besides, seven parties won senatorial seats, eight secured
federal constituencies and nine were successful in state legislatures.
“While the report emphasises the significant impact of
technological advancements on the integrity of the electoral process,
especially the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which reduced
electoral fraud and bolstered the credibility of elections, the document also
explained the challenges encountered with the INEC result viewing (IReV) portal
during the presidential election.”
“With the report now
in the public domain, we expect stakeholders to interrogate it and offer useful
advice on how we can further improve the electoral system.”
He added that: “As for those persons who embarked on what
they described as a ‘a day of curses’, my advice is that they should pay
adequate attention to substantive issues, make more productive use of their
time, and cure themselves of their visible ignorance of the laws governing the
electoral system and the commission’s processes and procedures”.
