Election observer groups in Saturday’s Edo State governorship polls have urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to invoke its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 to review any declarations and returns where results were not declared voluntarily or violated provisions of the Act, the umpire’s regulations, and guidelines.
The observer groups, comprising Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, Yiaga Africa, Kimpact Development Initiative, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, ElectHER, and TAF Africa said this in a joint statement that was released yesterday.
They expressed concern over the transparency of INEC’s ongoing results collation, which has been occasioned by reports of disruptions at collation centres, intimidation of poll officials, and attempts to collate results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.
The groups further called on security agencies to refrain from interference in the collation process and to ensure that accredited party agents, the media, and election observers are granted full access to collation centres.
They acknowledged INEC’s recent statement, recognising reports of result mutilation and its commitment to investigate and address any proven violations.
“We, the undersigned accredited civil society organisations observing the 2024 Edo governorship elections, express concern over the transparency of the ongoing results collation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Reports of disruptions at ward and local government collation centres, including intimidation of INEC officials and attempts to collate results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, raise significant concerns about the credibility of the results collation process.
“We acknowledge INEC’s recent statement recognising reports of result mutilation and its commitment to investigate and address any proven violations.
“In light of this, we urge INEC to invoke its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 to review any declarations and returns where results were not declared voluntarily or violated provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC regulations and guidelines.
“We further call on security agencies to refrain from interference in the collation process and to ensure that accredited party agents, the media, and election observers are granted full access to collation centres.
“We wish to emphasise that the role of security agencies in the election is to safeguard the process and not to create a situation that will undermine the transparency of the process and thus impact negatively on the credibility of the outcome of the election,” the statement reads.