Group slams INEC over poor conduct of Presidential/NASS polls

…Says election, a step back from 2015 general election

…Demands independent inquiry into lapses

Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has expressed concern over what it described as the poor conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The group Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre and Convener, NCSSR, Clement Nwankwo, who was speaking during the presentation of its third interim statement to journalists in Abuja on Monday, demanded an independent inquiry into the poor performance of INEC. Nwankwo, who also called on the electoral body and security agencies to ensure accountability for acts inimical to the integrity and credibility of the polls, expressed disappointment over what they described as serious lapses. “Situation Room is however disappointed by the serious lapses observed with the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday 23 February 2019. Despite the elections being conducted against a background of an earlier postponement on February 16, 2019, on grounds of logistics challenges, it still suffered from major logistic lapses. “Additionally, the election was marred by violence, security lapses and instances of overreach. Other challenges include compromised INEC officials as well as partisan security operatives. Conduct of major political parties was disappointing”, he said. Nwankwo further disclosed that the organisation got reports of incidents “involving the military in Rivers State and in another incident military personnel obstructing the passage of electorate into their polling units.” He said: “Situation Room notes that INEC has not managed the election efficiently and significant shortcomings have been recorded. The election has been a step back from the 2015 General Election and actions should be taken to identify what has gone wrong and what can be corrected. Situation Room urges voters and stakeholders to exercise restraint to avoid further loss of human lives and to seek legal redress were aggrieved. “In light of the above-identified issues, the Situation Room makes the following recommendations: There should be an independent inquiry into the poor management of the electoral process by INEC with a view to determining the underlining causes for logistics lapses with a view of itemising operational deficiency that led to the initial postponement of elections on February 16 and logistical challenges with the rescheduled elections on February 23 2019.