Conduct credible poll in Edo, INEC tasked

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure the success of the September 19, governorship election in Edo State.

The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said INEC must ensure that the conduct of the election was free and fair.

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Rafsanjani said, “In my opinion, INEC should not give room for people to accuse it of complacency and should ensure the election is conducted without bias.”

Also, the Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Dr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said he believed INEC had to be more decisive to ensure political actors did not continue with the sinister agenda of undermining the credibility of the electoral process.

Dr. Zikirullahi said, “INEC’s warning, which it handed down a few weeks ago, that it will not declare results where elections are disrupted, is a good first step.

“Beyond that, however, the commission must have the resolve to let electoral criminals know that it will no longer condone the violent disruption of the process as seen in the past.

“Edo is yet another major test which will serve as an indicator of the commission’s readiness to refrain from becoming a stamp for irretrievably flawed elections.”