Follow Us on Google
Fred Itua, Abuja
Weeks after the conduct of the general elections, a leading Elections Monitoring Group, Centre for Credible Leadership & Citizens Awareness (CCLCA), has alleged that security agencies acted as contractors to top desperate politicians in the country.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the Director-General of the monitoring group, Dr. Nwambu Gabriel, said security agencies deliberately violated the civic rights of millions of Nigerians who came out in large number to vote for candidates of their choice.
Regrettably, Gabriel said the lacuna has taken our electoral system to an electoral recession, adding “if this issue bothering on the professionalism and impartiality of law enforcement agencies in Nigeria is not addressed urgently, proper conduct of credible elections in Nigeria would continue to elude the Giant of Africa.
“To avert the huge expenditure and ensure transparent elections, we urge the 8th National Assembly to rectify the electoral amendment bill and send once again to Mr. President for urgent assent.”
Speaking further, He said: “The challenges in the Nigerian electoral system is the inability of the political elites across party lines to abide to lay down fundamental rules and regulations. The desperation of some party bigwigs has grossly undermined the efforts of the electoral management body.
“We also observed the indiscriminate use of certain INEC pronouncements as provided by law as demonstrated by some returning officers in Imo and Bauchi states respectively. Returning officers must be properly trained and guided on the appropriate diction to avoid embarrassment to the commission.”
