1 month ago
64 ARTICLE AD
By Jethro Ibileke
Yiaga Africa has urged all political parties and contestants in last Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo state to accept the outcome of the exercise as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Chairman of Yiaga Africa Mission, Ezenwa Nwagwu, who spoke at a press briefing in Akure, said the official results released by INEC reflected the ballots cast at polling units.
According to him, the estimates of the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) deployed to observe the election were consistent with results announced by INEC in all 18 local government areas.
The Yiaga Africa man, however, said that INEC’s polling officials were unprofessional and partisan in seven percent of polling units.
Nwagwu urged INEC to protect the secrecy of the ballot and enforce its electoral guidelines.
He called for the prosecution of election offenders including vote buyers and sellers.
He said: “Political parties and candidates should refrain from this persistent and unacceptable culture of impunity and ugly trend of buying votes to undermine the integrity of the electoral process.
“Candidates should encourage issue-based participation in elections and invest in building political parties that uphold democratic principles and promote electoral integrity.
“Stakeholders should invest in political and voter education to build citizens consciousness on the importance of democracy and the value of the vote.”
