The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CSJET), on Sunday in Abuja praised INEC and its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu for the successful conduct of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
The group warned disgruntled politicians from destroying the good image and reputations of the INEC chairman. They also directed them to seek redress via legal and democratic means instead of discrediting INEC.
Recall that the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi and that of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku and many other candidates have described the February 25 presidential election as flawed and accused INEC of working for the incumbent government.
Several other politicians including the observers and citizens also expressed dissatisfaction about the election results.
Isaac Ikpa who is the CSJET’s executive secretary told a news conference that though the election had some setbacks, writing off the whole election as lacking in credibility was not right.
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He said INEC deserved commendation for noticeable improvements in the electoral process and its outcomes.
“CSJET commends INEC’s chairman for his display of courage in ensuring the credibility of the electoral process in spite of some challenges. Our position is hinged on the fact that we gathered reports from observers across the country on the electoral process,” the group explained. “The majority of the outcome was positive, indicating that the elections were free, fair, and credible.”
“This much was admitted by some international observer missions that rated the 2023 general elections as credible and arguably one of Nigeria’s most keenly contested elections. The centre commends Prof Yakubu particularly on the technological innovations that were introduced in spite of efforts by saboteurs to discredit the electoral process.”
They warned disgruntled politicians against blackmailing INEC and its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu.
“The 2023 general elections were indeed free, fair, and credible. We advise persons and groups threatening INEC and its chairman to face their opponents. The 2023 general elections would go down in history as one of the most keenly contested elections as well as one of the freest, fairest, and most credible elections in the country’s annals,’’ noted CSJET.
They further asked those that are not happy with the outcome of the election seek redress through legal means.
