Kogi Election Is An Improvement Of Previous Exercise- INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the governorship election was an improvement in the previous exercises conducted in the state.

The Deputy Director of the commission Publicity, Mr. Nick Dazang, , said that though there were few challenges with regard to card readers’ performance, security, accreditation and voting processes were successful.

He said there were some minor challenges of the card reader but disclosed that mechanism were immediately deployed to rectify them.

“There was also an incident in Dekina where a ballot box was snatched even when voting had not started,” he told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“There was also one ward, 27, at Anyigba, where ballot and result sheets were torn, otherwise, I think the election went well,” he said.

Dazang said that the incidence of violence that was anticipated during the polls was not much when compared with the cases in previous elections in the state.

“In the time past we had situations where our staff were abducted, people were killed.

“There is no incident of violence at that level; we have not heard about anybody’s death or abduction.

“There is an improvement compared to previous elections in the state which is considered to be volatile,” he said.
Dazang added that efficiency of the card reader was above average on Saturday as the use of incident form was negligible.

“There was one particular area in Dekina where our officials were not proficient in the use of card reader and we are investigating what happened.

“Otherwise, I think generally, the election went on well; we have technical teams in all the 239 wards and in all the wards, we have ICT staff moved in to troubleshoot any challenges.”

“I don’t think what he said tallies with what we have seen and what we have monitored.

“The card reader was much successful; the incidences where we have that failure were very few,” he said.
“In any case, even if there were ballot papers and he snatched them, the ballot papers cannot be counted when returned.”

“The state is noted for volatility and violence but that violence did not take place. Of course, there were few challenges but not the kind of violence we anticipated.”

“I think that people have seen the need to do the right thing,” he said.

Comments

comments