The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has blamed the desperation of political parties and their supporters for contributing significantly to the inconclusiveness of elections in the country in 2019.
Speaking when reviewing the just concluded 2019 general elections nationwide in Plateau state, Yakubu also noted that the lack of internal democracy in the parties and the fear of losing elections make politicians and their supporters engage conducts that compound the problem of inconclusiveness, The Guardian reports.
“Unfortunately, the 2019 elections marked a new trend in which some parties and candidates engaged in violent behaviours, including manhandling of election officials and intimidation of voters, collation and returning officers.
Thankfully, this was not the case here on the Plateau,” the INEC boss said. “The commission views this trend with grave concerns and will continue to work on greater voter enlightenment for mandate protection as well as with security agencies to curtail this ugly trend.”
He said though inconclusive elections existed prior to the present commission, the phenomenon appears to have increased in 2019,
leading to the need for supplementary elections. Yakubu who was represented by the national commissioner, who supervised the FCT, Niger, Kaduna and Plateau states on the issuance of certificates of return, Anthonia Okoosi Simbine, urged those who were displeased about election outcome to seek legal redress.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it lost some states it controlled in the 2019 elections because the party allowed the free elections without interference in the electoral process. The national publicity secretary of the party, Lanre Issa Onilu, said as a ruling party, the APC refrained from mobilizing resources of coercion to influence the electoral process,
The Nation reports. Onilu explained that it was unheard for a ruling party to lose election in states controlled by it, noting that such happened because the APC allowed the electorate to decide the outcome of the polls.
Comments
