Yahaya Bello defends INEC on elections, urges support for Tinubu

The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, on Friday claimed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) substantially followed its guidelines during the last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

The commission had been heavily criticized over its conduct of the elections with many claiming the process was marred by operational failures including malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and late arrival of election materials to the polling units.

There were also reports bordering on result manipulations, voter suppression, and intimidation, among others during the exercise.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) had described the process as a rape of democracy and vowed to challenge the outcome in court.

Bello, who spoke on a Channels Television’s programme, “Politics Today,” said the commission largely followed the rules of the exercise.

The governor urged the aggrieved candidates to support the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his programmes for the country.

READ ALSO: Melaye charges INEC to safeguard records amidst election dispute

Bello said: “2023 elections had come and gone and we have president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In every contest, there must be a winner and a loser and of course, you can’t stop those that lose from venting their grievances or pointing out flaws. In every system of governance or electioneering, none is perfect 100 percent. Substantially, INEC followed its guidelines and rules of the game.

“All I could tell my brothers and leaders, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi and their followers is to calm down. Let’s have Nigeria first and live in peace. Let’s support Tinubu to implement the laudable programme and policies he is coming up with as contained in his manifesto.

“I am happy that the aggrieved parties are taking lawful means to seek redress but they should not overheat the polity.”

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