The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), the umbrella for a group of more than one hundred credible Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), has affirmed that the collation process of the Anambra state governorship election which was concluded by the Commission on 16th November 2013 and announced on 18th November 2013 were accurate and reflected the votes cast on Election Day.
The TMG, in a statement dated 19th November 2013 and signed by its Chair, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said the official INEC results for each candidate closely matched its (TMG’s) independent estimate.
A full text of the statement entitled: “Verification of INEC Official Results for Anambra (as Announced Nov 18th, 2013) reads:
Distinguished guests, our respected partners, stake-holders, ladies and gentle-men of the media, on behalf of the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) Quick Count Working Group, I am delighted to welcome you to this press conference on our preliminary observation findings for Anambra Gubernatorial Election held on Saturday November 16th, 2013.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has now publicly announced official results for 4,400 of 4,608 of polling stations for the Anambra Gubernatorial Election. While a date has not yet been published, INEC has announced that supplementary voting for 208 polling units of which 160 are in Idemili North local government area (LGA).
Based on the Quick Count methodology, TMG can confidently verify that thecollation process was done properly and the official results as announced by INEC on November 18th, 2013 accurately reflects the votes cast on Election Day at those polling stations which held elections.
The official INEC results for each candidate closely match TMG’s independent estimates – which are based on polling unit results collected from a representative random sample of polling result as announced by INEC to enhance transparency and accountability in the electoral process.
As TMG has reported before, the process was not without serious shortcomings, including:
1. Late arrival of election materials to polling units;
2. No elections in five wards of Idemili North LGA – this issue is particularly worrisome as Idemili North is a party stronghold;
3. Individuals with voter’s cards were refused accreditation.