2023 probably the best election Nigeria has ever had – Itse Sagay

Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairperson of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has opined that the 2023 election was one of the best in the history of the nation.

He stated this while answering viewers’ queries on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, praising the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for its contribution to the process.

Although Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was named the victor, some claim that violence contaminated the process.

Leading candidates including Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have contested the results of the presidential election.

Sagay, however, insisted that the process was legitimate, pointing to APC’s defeat in its stronghold of Lagos State.

“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.

The previous elections especially during other democratic dispensations were marred by irregularities, the senior lawyer.

“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 added

“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.”

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. So, I believe it expressed the true mind of Nigerians as of today. There is something natural about the results.”