politicians to take their grievances to the election petition
tribunals.
The commission said that though some pockets of violent incidents were
recorded during Saturday's governorship and State Houses of Assembly
elections, it still maintained that the exercise recorded a pass mark.
The electoral body stated this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.
It said that INEC's records showed that there were 66 reports of
violent incidents targeted at polling units, the commission's
officials, voters and election materials.
The elections were held in 29 states, while the state Houses of
Assembly elections were held in 36 states.
No election took place in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
It said its general assessment showed that the elections went well
across the country.
The commission said that preliminary reports it got showed that 88.9
per cent of polling units opened for accreditation between 8am and
10am across the country and that only 5.2 per cent had yet to open as
of 1 pm.
Also, it claimed that 73 per cent of the polling units had commenced
voting by 2.30 pm.
The commission said, "The process of accreditation with Smart Card
Readers was also successful in a majority of the polling units.
"Initial challenges were recorded in Edo and Abia states, but the
technical teams deployed to support the states were able to resolve
the issues in a timely manner."
Overall, it said that many parts of the country remained relatively
peaceful during the elections, but claimed that some states, however,
recorded a significant number of violent incidents.
It listed states that were mostly affected as Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross
River, Ebonyi and Ondo states.
The electoral body said, "INEC's records show that there were 66
reports of violent incidents targeted at polling units, the
commission's officials, voters and election materials.
"These were in Rivers State (16 incidents), Ondo (eight), Cross River
and Ebonyi (six each), Akwa Ibom (five) Bayelsa (four), Lagos and
Kaduna (three each), Jigawa, Enugu, Ekiti and Osun (two each),
Katsina, Plateau, Kogi, Abia, Imo, Kano and Ogun (one each).
"The commission is investigating these incidents and will do
everything within its powers to bring the culprits to justice."
INEC commended Nigerians for once again demonstrating their resolve
and commitment to participate in the electoral process and by doing
so, contributing to deepening democracy in our country.
The commission called on every citizen to maintain the peace "as the
results of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections are
being processed, and to accept the official outcomes.
"It would like to emphasize that winners can only emerge after
collation of the official results and on the basis of the requirements
prescribed by the legal framework.
"Any aggrieved persons or groups are encouraged to seek redress at the
tribunals."
INEC reminded all stakeholders that the process was not yet completed
and urged restraint in their comments, as it strived to bring the
process to an orderly, peaceful and credible conclusion.
--PUNCH.
No comments:
Post a Comment