— Civil society, opposition hails process, calls for improvement
Obansa Ibrahim, Lokoja
The Ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), in Kogi state has cleared the 21 chairmanship positions and the 239 Councillorship seats in the Saturday Local Government elections in the state.
Announcing the final results, late Saturday night, the chairman of the Kogi state Independent Electoral Commission, (KOSIEC) Mamman Nda Eri, commended the people of the state for the peaceful conduct of the polls.
The Commission chairman noted that results had earlier been declared on the field by the various Local Government returning officers for the election.
He added that the Commission had ensured timely deployment of election materials to the various pulling units across the state which he said was largely responsible for the hitchi-free exercise.
According to him, in all the places visited along side his officials, the electoral Officer ensure that the election was free, transparent on strict adherence to the guidelines and the modalities adopted were acceptable to the electorates irrespective of their political divide.
Eri , while thanking the security agents for ensuring compliance with the guidelines, also commended Journalists for keeping vigil from the commencement of the exercise to to the declaration of results.
The chairman called on the newly elected local government officials to justify the confidence reposed on them by delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of the state in their various councils.
“As elected officials, you must justify the confidence reposed on you by the electorates by taking advantage of the autonomy grant the Local Governments by the supreme court to deliver the dividends of democracy to your people.
“I must also thank the governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo for the support he gave to the commission in terms logistics, ensuring a level playing fields for all the participating political parties and creating the enabling environment, which resulted in a peaceful, credible and transparent election across the state.
” As we earlier promised, the Commission carried along all stakeholders, includes the civil society groups in the state and outside the state, from the beginning to the end to ensure a credible exercise, whose out Will not only be acceptable to the people, but meets national and international best practices in the conduct of elections.
Reacting to the exercise, the Apex civil society organization in the state, the Kogi NGOs Network, (KONGONET), said the election was conducted in a generally peaceful atmosphere, which they said is commendable.
In the post election statement signed by the Chairperson of the group, Ambassador Idris Ozovehe Muraina, said they noted instances of late arrival of election materials in some polling units, particularly in Lokoja, the state capital, but however noted that reports from Ajaokuta, Ijumu, Olomaboro, Adavi, Okene and other local government indicated timely arrival of materials in some polling units, contributing to a smooth electoral process in those areas.
While noting that the overall process displayed modest improvement compared to previous elections, he however said there are critical areas that require attention and improvement.
Ambassador Idris listed those areas to include, the insufficient visibility of the voter register at polling units, which hindered voter verification, Ensuring the early arrival of election materials to all polling units which he said is essential for a seamless voting experience.
Speaking further he said, “While we commend the robust deployment and availability of security personnel across most polling units visited. Strict adherence to movement restrictions must be enforced to maintain order, integrity and encourage voter turnout during the election process in future engagement.
The group added that the commission needed to up its game in the area of publicity and Sensitization of Voters to improve election turnout.
Ambassador Idris concluded that “the electoral process observed thus far indicates a positive trend towards improvement, particularly in KOSIEC’s engagement with civil society. However, to enhance the integrity and efficiency of future elections, we urge the electoral commission to address the highlighted areas for improvement
A member of the main opposition party in the state, Eseyin Oluwakayode Emmanuel, a
PDP Youth Leader in Kabba Bunu Local Government also praised the process put in place by the State Independent Electoral Commission in today’s election, which he said was largely responsible for the free fair, credible and transparent LG elections.
The PDP Youth leader described the peaceful conduct of the election as commendable, pointing out that lessons learnt in previous elections has served as a guide for KOSIEC, saying there was a great departure from the past.
He advised the opposition parties always come out enmass to vote for their preferred candidates, instead of staying away, insisting that the electoral body has justified the confidence reposed on them.
The Youth leader described the massive turnout in the area as an indication that the people want to elect their representatives and not selected for them as was the case in the past.