Barrister Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commended the improved processes and procedures during the Governorship and State Assembly elections held on Saturday, March 18th, 2023, in Nigeria.
Addressing journalists on Sunday, March 19th, 2023, at the National Situation Room, International Conference Centre in Abuja, Barrister Okoye said that the INEC had left no stone unturned as far as the processes and procedures under its control were concerned.
“Consequently, the majority of the polling units nationwide opened on schedule and citizens were attended to promptly. Similarly, there was improved voter authentication using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) while the uploading of Polling Unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) witnessed a remarkable improvement,” he said.
However, Barrister Okoye revealed that the commission faced difficult and unforeseen circumstances outside its control. He said that some of the commission’s staff were abducted, harassed, intimidated, hospitalized and in one case killed during the elections.
“Unfortunately, we could not extend the same to areas where voting was disrupted, and election materials destroyed. We are keeping our eyes on those areas and would not hesitate to remobilize where the outcome of the election is affected,” he added.
The National Commissioner also alerted the nation to the invasion of the Obingwa Local Government Area office in Abia State by thugs during the collation of results for the Governorship and State Assembly elections. In contention was the collated result from the Registration Areas for the Governorship election in that Local Government Area.
“The intention was to force the collation of these contentious results. The behavior of these thugs is unacceptable, and there will be a thorough review of the results,” he said.
Barrister Festus Okoye assured Nigerians that the INEC is committed to the sanctity of the process and will not hesitate to take drastic measures against proven irregularities.
“The Commission does not take the patience of citizens for granted and will continue to take steps to protect the integrity of the vote and consolidate the progress made so far in the electoral process,” he concluded.
