2023: Era of election rigging over

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has pledged to ensure votes cast by Nigerians in the forthcoming general elections are protected, saying that the days of wanton manipulation of election results are over.

The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made the pledge on Friday while delivering a keynote address at the launch of Yiaga Africa Election Result Analysis Dashboard, ERAD, Report on Electronic Transmission of Results in the 2022 Ekiti and Osun Governorship Election in Abuja.

Mahmood said that INEC has worked tirelessly to enhance transparency and increase the confidence of Nigerians in the election result management process.

“I can confidently say that the days of wanton manipulation of election results are clearly over.

“Yet, we are not resting on our oars knowing that we must remain several steps ahead of those who seek to undermine the system and there are many bad guys in the field trying to undermine the system, but we stand for electoral justice.

“We will make sure that the votes cast by Nigerians are protected and the only determinant of who becomes what in our democracy,” he said.

He added that the number of ad-hoc staff to be deployed by the commission for the 2023 general election was far above the number of personnel of both the police and military.