2019 elections a setback from 2015 polls, Situation Room tells INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been slammed by a civil society organisation over the poor management of the presidential  and National Assemby elections staged last Saturday.

The electoral body was criticised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room which demanded an immediate independent inquiry into the poor performance of INEC during the polls.

According to Clement Nwankwo, the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre and Convener, NCSSR, “the election has been a step back from the 2015 general elections.”

Mr Nwankwo also called on the electoral body and security agencies to ensure accountability for acts inimical to the integrity and credibility of the polls.

“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”, it said.

Read also: LIVE UPDATE! 2019 Presidential election results for leading parties: PDP, APC

He said the organisation got reports of incidents “involving the military in Rivers State and in another incident military personnel obstructing the passage of electorate into their polling units.”

Mr Nwankwo added that the, “Situation Room notes that INEC has not managed the election efficiently and significant shortcomings have been recorded. The election has been a step back from the 2015 General Election and actions should be taken to identify what has gone wrong and what can be corrected. Situation Room urges voters and stakeholders to exercise restraint to avoid further loss of human lives and to seek legal redress were aggrieved.

“In light of the above-identified issues, the Situation Room recommends that: There should be an independent inquiry into the poor management of the electoral process by INEC with a view to determining the underlining causes for logistics lapses with a view of itemising operational deficiency that led to the initial postponement of elections on February 16 and logistical challenges with the rescheduled elections on February 23 2019.

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