BY Dyepkazah Shibayan
Youth Alive Foundation (YAF), a civil society organisation (CSO), says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must adhere to the electoral law and its guidelines in the governorship and the house of assembly elections across the country.
Nigerians will go to the polls on March 18 to elect governors and members of state houses of assembly.
In a statement on Tuesday, Udy Akpan, YAF’s executive director, said the electoral body needs to ensure that the exercise is credible to avoid anarchy.
Akpan said the recent presidential and national assembly elections were allegedly not conducted in line with INEC’s guidelines and the law, which she noted has already angered many youths.
“The recent presidential and national Assembly elections that were conducted without transparency and accountability by INEC and in non-compliance to their own guidelines is tantamount to pulling the lion’s tail,” she said.
“As noted by multiple stakeholder groups and observers, INEC bungled the Elections process and instead of addressing these issues, they continued the process like nothing happened.
“Three political parties have gone to court as advised and the court has issued an Ex-parte order for INEC to allow the parties to inspect all election materials. There is confusion about the numbers that were collated by INEC for the declaration of the presidential results which is now inconsistent with the numbers from the polling units later uploaded on IREV.
“There are also clear modifications and tampering of many uploaded form EC8A and other result sheets INEC uses to record votes. Transparency and explanations are required from INEC on these issues to ensure peace is sustained.
“As we prepare for the gubernatorial and state house of assembly elections, INEC needs to ensure that they adhere to their own guidelines and the electoral act 2022. INEC officials need to conduct their activities in line with the guidelines to ensure the elections are seen as credible and legitimate.”
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