CONNECTED Development (CODE), a Nigerian non-profit organisation that monitored the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections, has commended citizens for coming out in large numbers to vote nationwide.
The group said it observed some of the key issues that bother around delay in voting in the South – East
Hamzat Lawal, CEO of CODE said this today while addressing journalists at the CODE situation room in Abuja.
CODE said INEC staff arrived late in the South – East in LGAs like Umuahia south in Civic Centre Abama Housing estate polling unit, Arochukwu Local government and Amannagwu Hall polling unit.
On Security, the group said it has reports that electoral violence disrupted elections in the North East (Borno, precisely).
“Reports have shown that one person has been confirmed dead and another injured in Gwoza LGA, in Gwoza town ward, at Polling unit 005. Reports reaching us is that the violence started as a retaliation to top officials attempting to buy votes.
“In the North East (Adamawa, precisely), we have several reports of the BVAS malfunctioning and the accreditation process being automatically stopped. This is happening in a place like Yola North, in the Capital School polling unit.
“Still in the North East (Adamawa), we are worried about reports of party agents sharing food which is tantamount to vote- buying,” CODE said.
CODE said its observers have reports of voting successfully happening in several polling units across the North East.
“We are also aware of positive events happening in Taraba State, in Jalingo Local government area, in Muhammed Nya polling unit, where our observers have reported that priority is being given to the elderly and pregnant women.
According to the group, concerns about security breaches were seen in some parts of the North East like the Wauru Jabbe polling unit in Yola South,
In the South West, CODE observed several reports of voting materials malfunctioning and party agents disrupting elections in places like the Iloro/onitepetesi Arigidi polling unit, Agege Local Govt, Lagos.
In Ekiti State, observers report party agents fighting with security agents in Ikere LGA.
According to CODE in Sokoto South LGA, armed men attacked a polling station in the Jegawa ward, and the assailants destroyed ballot boxes.
“In Kogi precisely, as at 11:35 a.m., voting was disrupted after a fight erupted and voters were attacked.
“Ballot papers were torn and destroyed in Udaba Dekina polling unit.”
In the South-South region, CODE observed cases of vote buying in Cross River and Akwa Ibom, especially in Obot Akara LGA in Akwa Ibom state.
CODE gave the following statistics on the election.
“Polling station issues which had the highest publication on UZABE had the following breakdown by geopolitical zones: SE – 11%, SW – 13.19%, NC – 19.15%, NE – 17.87%, NW – 23.4, SS – 14.47. We see that the northwest had the highest polling station issues.
“Positive events, which had the second highest publishing on UZABE, has the following breakdown by geopolitical zones: SE – 3%, SW – 10%, NC – 27%, NE – 13%, NW – 24%, SS – 23%. We see that the north central had the highest positive events.”
CODE was founded in 2012 and focused on empowering marginalised communities to demand goods and services by creating platforms for dialogue, building citizens’ capacity, and holding the government accountable.
Uzabe is an election monitoring tool that Connected Development (CODE) introduced to identify flaws in the Nigerian electoral processes and to provide a feedback mechanism that gives citizens real-time situational reports on election processes targeting specific locations within different parts of the country.
Uzabe is a project of the Open Situation Awareness Room (OSAR) that offers real-time intelligence, mapping tools, and witness reports from 20,000 trained observers dispersed across different voting units in Nigeria.
