ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has urged all Nigerians to accept the results of the last Saturday’s elections in good faith in the interest of national cohesion and development.
The organisation’s Country Director, Ms. Ene Obi, said this Wednesday in Abuja said that those who reject the credibility of the elections, should take appropriate legal action as violence will not resolve the issues but only create new ones.
“Nigerians are a passionate people. But we must never let passion overrun our logic; reacting to the results of an election with violence is deeply illogical,” Obi said.
She said the ActionAid Nigeria as an accredited observer of the 2019 elections, observed in FCT and 11 states of Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Kebbi, Ondo, Kogi, Kwara, Delta, Ebonyi and Lagos.
According to her, though ActionAid Nigeria sees the electoral process as relatively peaceful, there were a number of issues that are of concern and need to be addressed before the next presidential elections in 2023, and ideally before Nigerians head to the polls again on March 9th to elect state governors and members of the State Houses of Assembly.
“The turnout of eligible voters on Saturday, February 23 was relatively low at 35 percent when compared to the total number of accredited voters and this has been largely attributed to the postponement of elections which led to voter apathy. Added to this are logistic delays; late opening of polling units and late arrival of necessary supplies such as ballot papers, stamps and markers across the country which was put at 55 percent.
“The most serious issue is that of electoral abuses. Polling units in different areas of the country reported various types of electoral interference, from the destruction of ballot papers and boxes to the use of scare tactics, such as firing weapons into the air, to disperse potential voters during which 39 Nigerians lost their lives,” she said.
She called for improved welfare of INEC ad-hoc staff, especially Corps members to prevent their being vulnerable to manipulations by political actors.
Ms. Obi said insecurity, human capital development, poverty eradication and corruption should be prioritized by the re-elected president.
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