Yiaga Africa, Watching The Vote on Monday called on the National Assembly to accelerate the process of electoral reform, especially the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission to promptly and diligently prosecute electoral offenders.
The chair, Yiaga Africa WTV Working Group, Dr Hussain Abdu and Executive Director Yiaga Africa, Itodo Samson while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Monday also called on INEC should thoroughly investigate all the allegations of malpractices, and misapplication of election laws and guidelines and remediate all the flaws including prosecuting its staff for complicity.
According to them, Yiaga Africa hopes the commission will fulfill its commitment to ensuring the culprits face the full wrath of the law.
They said Yiaga Africa is concerned about the continuous decline in the quality of our elections and the penchant to lower the integrity standards of our elections irrespective of reforms introduced by INEC and progress made in reforming our election legal framework.
They further said INEC should conduct a comprehensive audit of the Imo governorship election results and make its findings public.
“Increasingly, more voters are tactically disenfranchised for conduct that is not within their control. INEC should review its policy to ensure that eligible voters across all polling units are given an equal opportunity to vote.
” This includes policy reviews that ensure that voters in polling units where elections are suspended or cancelled for electoral malpractice issues or logistical challenges are given an opportunity to vote.
” The elections question the commitment of democratic institutions such as INEC, political parties and other state institutions to electoral integrity and credible elections.
“As a result of missing data from the PRVT sample coupled with a high number of critical incidents recorded in Imo state, Yiaga Africa is not in a position to verify the credibility of the process and the outcome of the Imo State governorship elections.
“Yiaga Africa observed that the BVAS was deployed across all the polling units observed in the Imo and Kogi polling units.
In Imo state, the BVAS Worked throughout the day in 94% of polling units. However, it malfunctioned and it was fixed in 3% of polling units. It malfunctioned and was not fixed or replaced in 2% of these polling units.
“Similarly, in Kogi state, the BVAS worked throughout the day in 94% of polling units. However, it malfunctioned and it was fixed in 5% of polling units. It malfunctioned and was not fixed or replaced in 1% of these polling units,” they said .
