…As Ibeanu bemoans citizens’ trust deficit in electoral processes
By Joy Odor
Professor Okechukwu Ibeanu, the Administrator Expert, Development Alternative Incorporated (DAI) on Tuesday bemoaned on the general
deficit of trust by citizens in electroal processes in various government and public institutions.
Ibeanu suggested that where government and public institutions trust can be rebuilt in the electoral process is by enhancing the level of quality of ballot votes which is promissory value, content value and the psychological value of the ballot.
The Administrator of DAI stated this in his opening speech as the Chairman of the occasion at a one-day Media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Roundtable on ‘Re-examining the Role of Critical Stakeholders in Rebuilding Trust in the Electoral Processes & Institutions’ in Abuja, under the European-Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN II) project.
“Five things we know as trust in electoral process in a society where there is general deficit of trust on public institutions, it robs off on the electoral institution. What other agencies do or fail to do could be interpreted as what INEC does.
“In a society where there is a generalised trust deficit in election, every election tends to worsen trust deficit; it is not necessary that trust deficit is the problem, what is critical is that when it drops below a certain threshold, it is very difficult to rebuild,” he said.
Earlier in his address, the International Press Centre (IPC), Executive Director, Lanre Arogundade affirmed that the Roundtable will aid the process of developing strategic interventions that can contribute towards regaining public trust while promoting the delivery of free, fair, peaceful and credible elections in the country.
He said the Media and journalists should do more to hold accountable the critical stakeholders in the electoral process who each must play the roles expected of them for the country to have credible elections. which serve as the basis of public trust.
“The question of whether the Media and Journalists have done enough to hold the government, the security and law enforcement agencies, the election management body INEC, the political parties and the candidates, the civil society, the citizens, the observers and monitors accountable is one that should be honestly answered going forward.
“In other words, being non accountable can also affect the credibility of elections. Based on the provisions of the laws governing elections and the statutory and non-statutory regulatory frameworks, the accountability functions of the media include being factually accurate, avoiding biases, prejudices and hate speech; being conflict sensitive and refraining from being part of information disorder in this age of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation.
“The media and journalists are also accountable based on the agenda setting and social responsibility theories of the media, among others. Again, we may ask the question: whose agenda have the media been setting during the elections? Can we say, it is the public interest agenda?”, he stressed.
In his Lead paper presentation, Jide Ojo who is a Development Consultant and Public Analyst, recommended that the Media and Civil Society Organisations
need to assist INEC to bolster people’s trust and confidence in the
electoral management body.
According to him, there is need for a symbiotic relationship among the three institutions, saying INEC has a lot of house cleaning to do ahead of February 3, 2024 re-run and bye
election polls as well as future elections.
Ojo pointed out that the presentation is a pointer to areas INEC can do a quick fix to
enhance the trust and confidence of the citizens especially the
electorate and hoped that the aforementioned recommendations
would be given prompt attention.
“The objective of the Roundtable was to explore means of rebuilding public trust and galvanize the support of critical stakeholders especially the media and CSOs actors as partners with INEC in enhancing the credibility of the Commission through improved information and communication strategy.
“The credibility or otherwise of any election is dependent on 10 critical stakeholders which are; INEC and SIECs, National Assembly, political parties, aspirants and candidates, judiciary, security agencies, electorates, civil society organization, media and development partners.
“Media and CSOs should engage in conflict sensitive reporting of elections devoid of hate speech, fake news and undue sensationalism; Proper training of accredited observers and journalists on the electoral process and procedures is desirable; Fact-checking of INEC and citizens posts on social media (authentication and verification) before publishing for public consumption; Liaison with INEC Citizen Contact Centre and Voter Education and Publicity Department for authentic information on the activities of the Commission.
“Almost a year after the conduct of the last general elections, INEC is yet to make public information about arrests, investigations and prosecution of its staff that were alleged to be involved in compromising the integrity of the elections.
“Likewise, no further update has been given on INEC ad hoc staff caught with pre-filled result sheets during the November 11, 2023 governorship elections in Kogi State as well as those who posted results of Polling Units where elections did not hold on IREV in Imo State.
“Many Nigerians are at a loss on why the Commission did not invoke provision of section 65(1)of the E.A 2022 which empowers it to review results that were wrongfully declared”, he said.
Defending the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against lack of citizens trust, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity of the Commission, Mrs. Mary Nkem confirmed that the Commission has been able to secured conviction of three electoral offenders, caught during the 2023 general elections, out of 19 case files prepared for prosecution and filed for various jurisdiction of courts in Nigeria.
He explained that the Commission is handicapped in terms of arrest and prosecution of electoral offenders, but assured that the forthcoming reruns and by-elections would be free and fair.
“It will interest you to know that most of the policies that were used for the 2023 elections emanated from the review we had of the 2019 general elections. I stand here to let you know that for the 2023 general elections, all the reports and recommendations that have been harvested, the commission will look at them critically, and implement the key ones.
“On prosecution of electoral offenders, the commission does not have the power to arrest. Election is a multi-stakeholder programme. If INEC plays its side and another stakeholder fails, there will be an issue. We don’t arrest and investigate. There are organisations that do that. We only prosecute those found culpable when we receive the files. We partner with the EFCC and ICPC.
“It will interest you to know that for the 2023 general elections, we received some case files of electoral offenders and they have been prosecuted and as we speak, about three have been completed and convictions secured for the three of them” he said.
The meeting was attended by editors and reporters from the print, broadcast and online media; the media professional bodies/associations; representatives of media regulatory bodies and leaders of civil society organizations working in the media sector.
