Elections in Ekiti, Osun will be credible, says Jega

The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega on Monday said that the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states would be well conducted and credible.

Jega said this at the Quarterly Meeting with political parties in Abuja.

The chairman said the commission would do everything possible to ensure that the elections are free, fair, peaceful and credible.

He said that the commission had distributed the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and also conducted registration for those who have become 18 years since the last registration.

Jega said that INEC had also conducted registration for those whose details have not been sufficiently captured in the electronic register.

“Although doing these were not without some challenges, overall the two exercises were remarkable improvement over previous efforts.

“The lessons we have learnt from these will be factored into our preparations for the conduct of the PVCs and the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), nationwide,” he said.

Jega called on all the political parties and other stakeholders to continue to cooperate with INEC to enable it improve on the electoral process.

He also urged political parties and politicians to enter into the electoral arena with full respect for the Code of Conduct which political parties have signed.

In his remarks, Dr Yinusa Tanko, Chairman, Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), commended INEC on its efforts at ensuring that the governorship elections in the two states are credible.

He however, said that IPAC had made some observations on the PVCs and CVR in Ekiti and Osun.

According to him, INEC needs to do more in order to sensitise voters on the PVCs and CVR.

Tanko also said that the ad hoc staff employed for the purpose of the exercise were not well-trained.

He said that proper training should be given to the adhoc staff ahead of the governorship elections in the two states. (NAN)