CSOs Blame INEC, Security Agencies over Poor Polls
Puts death toll at 39
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has blamed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies of poor handling of the presidential and National Assembly elections held last Saturday.
According to the group field reports from 8,000 observers said the elections were not well organized despite high expectations from INEC.
The group said the exercise witnessed a lot of lapses from both INEC and security agents.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the Executive Director, Policy & Legal Advocacy Centre and Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Mr. Clement Nwankwo said 39 Nigerians lost their lives during and after the elections.
The deaths were recorded in Rivers – 16, Borno – four, Yobe- two, Kogi- two, Ebonyi – two, Delta – two, Taraba – four, Zamfara – one, Lagos – one and Oyo – one.
He said the group has documented 260 politically motivated deaths from October last year to February 23.
Nwankwo said it was unfortunate that some Nigerians were disenfranchised during the election in parts of Lagos by thugs who burnt or snatched ballot papers with the security agencies failing to address the situation.
He said, “Situation Room is, however, disappointed by the serious lapses observed with the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday 23 February 2019. Despite the elections being conducted against a background of an earlier postponement on February 16, 2019, on grounds of logistics challenges, it still suffered from major logistic lapses.
“Additionally, the election was marred by violence, security lapses and instances of overreach. Other challenges include compromised INEC officials as well as partisan security operatives. Conduct of major political parties was disappointing.”
The Commonwealth Group of Observers also condemned the violence that which marred elections in many parts of the country.
The international observers however called for a peaceful conclusion of the election and release of the results.
The Chairperson of the Commonwealth Group of Observers, Dr. Jakaya Kikwete who addressed newsmen in Abuja said violence is not supposed to be the case in modern democracy.
Kikwete called for more training of all those that involved in election processes for a better exercise.
She said, “Observers noted, however, that many would have benefitted from more comprehensive training in polling procedures. In some places, the layout of polling units, including the positioning of voting booths, potentially compromised the secrecy of the ballot. Incorrect labeling and failure to seal the ballot boxes correctly were also noted. Lack of signage within polling units also caused some confusion.”
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