2023 election best so far in Nigeria – Itse Sagay

Freshreporters Media reports that the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, commended the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and described the 2023 election as one of the best in Nigeria’s history.

Despite criticisms of violence and challenges to the outcome by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), Sagay defended the credibility of the exercise.

He noted that even the All Progressives Congress (APC) lost in its Lagos State stronghold, indicating the fairness of the election.

“In my personal opinion, in terms of representing the minds and wishes of Nigerians in an election, this is probably the best election we have had,” he said on the show.

According to the senior lawyer, previous elections during other democratic dispensations were affected by irregularities.

“So, we had good elections in 2011, 2015, and 2019. But in terms of representing or interpreting what Nigerians feel, it [2023]is the best election we have ever had,” Sagay said.

“If you look at the ways things have gone with the BVAS (Bimordal Voter Accreditation System), the very idea that the APC was defeated in Lagos, that should make you realise immediately that these are very credible elections. If you go through the whole country, it is the same sort of accuracy and reflection on the feelings of Nigerians.”

Tinubu’s Edge

Sagay argued that the 2023 elections were determined by ethnicity, religion, and organisational skills.

“But above all, what gave Tinubu the edge was his capacity to organise, plan and plant agencies and supporters and various administrative bodies all over the states in the country, ” the PACAC boss said.

“So, that in my view is the explanation of what happened,” he added. “So, I believe it expressed the true mind of Nigerians as of today. There is something natural about the results.”

The Labour Party, he admitted “did excellently well” in some areas, especially in the South-East but rued the party’s “abysmal results” in the North-East and North-West regions.