INEC Defends 2023 General Election, Says 712 Petitions Dismissed, 179 Withdrawn

Seven months after the conduct of the 2023 general elections, the various tribunals handling petitions from defeated candidates have dismissed 712 cases.

Also, 179 candidates have withdrawn the petitions they filed against their opponents before the election petition tribunals across the federation.

VerseNews reports that these facts were revealed yesterday in Abuja by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which said 891 petitions of 1,196 on 2023 polls had so far been either dismissed or withdrawn.

Contrary to claims in some sections of the media, INEC said the loss of 74.4 percent of the petitions confirmed the credibility of the 2023 elections it conducted for state and national legislators, governors and president.

the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement he issued in Abuja, said the report contained inaccuracies and called for a more balanced perspective on the matter.

He said, “Of 1,196 petitions, 712 were dismissed and 179 withdrawn. This means that in 891 cases (74.4 percent), the tribunals found no merit in the petitions and affirmed the result of the elections conducted by INEC.

“It is surprising how the mere filing of petitions constituted a blow on the integrity of the recent elections conducted by INEC when in fact they constitute an integral part of the democratic process.”

According to him, “As of Monday, 16th October, 2023, of 82 governorship election petitions, 72 (87.8 percent) were either dismissed or withdrawn by the petitioners. For the senatorial elections, 146 petitions were filed, of which 100 (68.5 percent) were dismissed or withdrawn.

“For the House of Representatives, 413 petitions were filed out of which 309 (74.81 percent) were dismissed or withdrawn while for State Houses of Assembly, 550 petitions were filed, of which 468 (82.4 percent) were dismissed or withdrawn.

“A comparative analysis would have addressed the deliberate effort in the report to portray the 2023 General Election as regressive on account of litigation without empirical evidence.”