Reps congratulate INEC on successful conduct of Ekiti governorship election

The House of Representatives has congratulated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on the satisfactory conduct of the Saturday governorship election in Ekiti State.

The House noted that the election won by Biodun Oyebanji, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been adjudged a successful outing, according to all metrics by independent domestic and foreign observers.

Benjamin Kalu, spokesperson and chairman of the House committee on media and public affairs said this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.

Kalu said as the first gubernatorial election to be conducted by INEC under the new Electoral Act 2022, the election presented a unique opportunity to assess the operational implications of some provisions of the newly issued INEC guidelines and the new law.

He said: “According to reports from independent election observers, there was marked improvement in election logistics management, as well as the deployment of personnel and essential materials such as the Voter Register, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), voting cubicles and ballot boxes, which resulted in early commencement of voting.

“The House is also pleased with reports that the BVAS functioned properly in 94% of observed polling units, and was promptly fixed in the 6% of polling units where it malfunctioned. This indeed validates the faith that was placed in INEC to deploy election technology to improve our electoral system.

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“The House also commend the Nigeria Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and other security agencies for keeping the peace and demonstrating vigilance against electoral malpractices at the 2022 Gubernatorial Election in Ekiti State.

“The House remains committed to the improvement of our electoral processes and hopes that the successful run of the 2022 Gubernatorial Election in Ekiti State will inspire more Nigerians to vote in the coming 2023 general elections.”

The House spokesperson called on INEC to extend the June 30 voter registration deadline to accommodate the increasing number of Nigerians who wish to register to vote.