Ahead of the forthcoming off-cycle gubernatorial elections in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi states, the Director of the Abuja School of Political Thoughts, Dr Sam Amadi, has tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to correct the inadequacies and lack of due diligence witnessed during the 2023 general election to avoid more crises in the states.
Amadi stated this in Abuja at the weekend during a policy roundtable at the Centre for Public Policy and Research.
Expressing his concerns over the integrity of the past elections in these states, he said: “Today, we have seen various tribunals come down with judgement. What’s common about most of these judgements, in spite of their decision in terms of either upholding or nullifying the election, is the evidence-based clarity about how INEC makes mistakes in some places.
“So now we are about to face another election, the governorship election in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi states. INEC had earlier promised to do transmission of this election, which is what they promised at the presidential election and just about a few days ago, we got news circulated that the Bayelsa election would be manually collated. So, back to the same false assurances and false confidence. We know that most of these states, like Imo, are under a serious security threat in terms of the recent sad incident of the killing of Nigerian soldiers.
“We know that if elections are manipulated as they have been, it could spike into a new level of insecurities, particularly in Imo State, where, out of the three, is now the most traumatised with insecurity.”
Similarly, speaking at the event, Prof Abiodun Adeniji stated that there ought to be measures to ensure that the country experiences free and fair elections in the November off-cycle gubernatorial elections.
Off-season elections: INEC must avoid past errors – Sam Amadi