The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) on Wednesday called for the improvement of election equipment, especially the Biometric Voters Accreditation System.
This was hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission had declared a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Soludo, winner of the Anambra State gubernatorial election.
TMG Chairman, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Rafsanjani, said vote-buying was the business of the day during the election.
He said the pre-election season witnessed the violence that marred campaign rallies of the various parties in parts of the state.
He, also urged the leadership of the security agencies to investigate and charge to court all security operatives who engaged in violation of human rights, and gross misconduct during the election.
“The stand of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the strong presence of security operatives had an effect on how voters came out to exercise their franchise,” Rafsanjani said.
The TMG boss, however, urged government to stand up to the challenges of insecurity in the country, so that the 2023 election will not witness voters’ apathy, as witnessed in Anambra.
Rafsanjani, who said that vote-buying was the business of the day during the election, said, “Voters were seen selling their votes for as low as N2000. In some cases, security operatives looked away while vote buying was going on at some polling units.”
He, however, commended residents of Ebenebe Community, Awka North, particularly women for publicly resisting vote buying in their polling unit, urging Nigerians to emulate the example demonstrated by these heroines of the elections.
Rafsanjani, who is also the Chairman Board of Trustees (BoT), Amnesty International Nigeria, Head of Transparency International Nigeria and Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), expressed dismay on the protest by police personnel over the non-payment of their allowances for the election, calling for a change of heart on the matter.
Similarly, the Vice Chair of the Group Mrs. Miriam Menkiti, lamented the poor functioning of the BVAS, which frustrated voters across the 21 local government areas of the state.
She said, “It is shocking that despite the consistent statement by INEC that the card readers were all set for the elections, we still witnessed a high rate of poor connection of the BVAM in various part of the state.
“TMG appeals to INEC to live up to the task of providing smooth elections for Nigerians in the 2023 general elections which will be cumbersome and overstretch the electoral empire.”
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