A Civil Society Organization, Yiaga Africa, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to conduct a post-election audit on both the Edo and just concluded Ondo state governorship elections in order to enable the commission to assess its performance.
According to the Civil Society Organization, this will also help INEC to identify operational areas for improvement and drive policy reforms to effectively plan for future elections in the country.
Ezenwa Nwagwu, the Co-Chair of Yiaga Africa group, made the call on Monday in Akure, while speaking with journalists at a post-election report of the organization on the just concluded Ondo state governorship election.
Recall that Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Saturday won the just concluded Ondo State gubernatorial poll with 292,830 votes.
While the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Eyitayo Jegede, who took the second position, scored 195,791 votes, and Agboola Ajayi of the Zenith Labour Party, got 69,127 votes.
But, Nwagwu, urged the winner, Governor Akeredolu, and his supporters to be magnanimous in victory.
“For those candidates who did not win, we urge them to accept the results because they reflect the votes cast. Yiaga Africa calls upon all candidates, all parties, and all Nigerians to show political maturity and to maintain the peace.
“Yiaga Africa notes with great concern the menace of vote-buying and the impunity exhibited by major political actors in procuring votes with huge amounts of cash during the Ondo governorship election.
“Additionally, the National Assembly should accelerate reforms to the Electoral Act to legalize the effective deployment of technological tools to promote citizens’ participation and enhance transparency in the electoral process.
“Yiaga Africa commends the National Peace Committee (NPC) for responding to the call by stakeholders on the threat of violence as indicated in Yiaga Africa’s pre-election observation report. The interventions contributed in no small measure to the peaceful conduct of the election,” he said.
