Seek legal redress, INEC tells losers

The Independent National Electoral Com­mission (INEC) at the weekend advised losers in the governorship and state Assembly elections to seek legal redress instead of taking laws into their hands, admit­ting that it has received 66 reports of violence.
In a statement issued yesterday, the commission, however, rated itself very high in the conduct of the elections, recording high percentage of arrival of staff and materials as stipulated by the Electoral Act.

“INEC commends Nigerians for once again demon­strating their resolve and commitment to participating in the electoral process and by doing so, contributing to deepening democracy in our country.
“The commission calls on every citizen to maintain the peace as the results of the governorship and state Assembly elections are being processed, and to accept the official outcomes. It would like to emphasize that winners can only emerge after collation of the official results and on the basis of the requirements prescribed by the legal framework.
“Any aggrieved persons or groups are encouraged to seek redress at the tribunals. INEC would also like to remind all stakeholders that the process is not yet completed and we urge restraint in their comments, as we strive to bring this process to an orderly, peaceful and credible conclusion,” it noted.
On the general conduct of the elections, INEC noted: “A general assessment shows that the elections went very well across the country. According to preliminary reports, 88.9 % of polling units opened for accreditation between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. across the country. Only 5.2 % were yet to open as of 1 pm. Also, 73 % of the poll­ing units had commenced voting by 2.30 p.m.
“The process of accreditation with Smart Card Read­ers was also successful in a majority of the polling units. Initial challenges were recorded in Edo and Abia states, but the technical teams deployed to support the states were able to resolve the issues in a timely manner.
“Overall, many parts of the country remained rela­tively peaceful during the elections. Some states, how­ever, recorded a significant number of violent incidents, the most affected being Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ebonyi and Ondo states. INEC’s records show that there were 66 reports of violent incidents targeted at polling units, the commission’s officials, voters and election materials.
“These were in Rivers State (16 incidents), Ondo (eight), Cross River and Ebonyi (six each), Akwa Ibom (five) Bayelsa (four), Lagos and Kaduna (three each), Jigawa, Enugu, Ekiti and Osun (two each), Katsina, Plateau, Kogi, Abia, Imo, Kano and Ogun (one each). The commission is investigating these incidents and will do everything within in its powers to bring culprits to justice,” it noted.