Elections: African Bar Association urges INEC to address grievances

The African Bar Association (AFBA) Secretariat in Collaboration with the Human & Constitutional Rights Committee of the Association has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that grievances expressed by the electorate during the recently concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections be addressed and not repeated during the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections.

Speaking during a press conference at AFBA secretariat, Chartered Institute of Bankers in Lagos on ‘The 2023 Nigerian Presidential & National Assembly Elections and the Rule of Law’, Hannibal Uwaifo, president, African Bar Association (AFBA), said the electoral body must address the pitfalls already enumerated in the public domain including reports from other international Observer Groups.

Uwaifo however, called on all players to give INEC a chance to genuinely and decisively address these issues so as to restore confidence in the process and bring the election to an acceptable conclusion.

He disclosed that as an international observer group, the association deployed a sizable number of observers across about 18 states in Nigeria and received on the spot reports and observations before, during and after the exercise.

The AFBA president noted that while the association was highly impressed and appreciated the high turnout of voters especially among the youth and young people, the finishings of the important assignment appears to be untidy and cast doubts on the transparency of the outcome.

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“With accusations and counter accusations, the road to a general consensus on the outcome of the elections appears far off.

“There have been allegations and proof of irregularities , violations of the basic laws, electoral regulations, falsification of unit results and outright criminal interferences by top government officials.

“This situation ought to be unacceptable to all the political actors if they genuinely believe in democracy and the rights of Nigerians to freely choose who to govern their affairs,”Uwaifo said.

According to him, the situation has undoubtedly led to several tense scenarios leading to high stake verbal exchanges amongst the main actors.

He however, stressed that as an aspiring country to be respected member of the international club of Nations, Nigerian politicians must rise above these primordial behaviours and embrace the call for a better future for all Nigerians.

“The recent walk out of representatives of some political parties from activities at the National Collation Centre where the final results were being tallied is a pointer to the fact that the situation is degenerating and may lead to a bigger scenarios if not quickly checked and grievances quickly and expeditiously addressed,” he added.