Osita Chidoka, a former Minister of Aviation and a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its handling of the 2023 presidential election.

Chidoka’s criticism stems from the legal challenges raised by the PDP and Peter Obi’s Labour Party (LP) regarding the election’s outcome, particularly their assertion that INEC did not conduct real-time transmission of results to the election portal.

The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) recently ruled on the petitions filed by Obi and Atiku, stating that INEC has the freedom to transmit results in the manner it deems appropriate.

In an interview with Channels TV, Chidoka expressed his disappointment in INEC for reneging on its pre-election commitment to carry out real-time result transmission.

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He stated, “INEC is a monumental disgrace. INEC is an organization I am ashamed to be associated with as a Nigerian.”

He referred to INEC’s performance in the Anambra, Ekiti, and Osun governorship elections as contributing to this sentiment.

Chidoka called for third-party verification of INEC’s system to ensure that election day would proceed smoothly without any glitches.

However, he noted that INEC claimed there was a glitch on election day, even though the electoral body had not conducted large-scale testing of the election results portal.

He characterized INEC’s defense in court as a “shame” and criticized the commission for arguing that non-compliance with its regulations should not be a ground for canceling an election.

Chidoka expressed his concern that INEC’s struggles with such issues negatively affect Nigeria’s international reputation and questioned why the country cannot learn from nations like India and Indonesia, which have large populations but conduct more efficient elections.