Yiaga questions INEC's commitment to electoral integrity after conduct of Kogi, Imo, Bayelsa poll

YIAGA Africa said on Monday that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, missed a chance to rebuild Nigerians’ trust in the electoral process with its poor conduct at the November 11 governorship election.

Faulting the conduct of the off-cycle governorship election in a statement made available on its official X handle, the election monitoring organization said that the election questions the commitment of INEC to electoral integrity and credible elections.

“The November 11 elections were another missed opportunity to rebuild trust & confidence in the electoral process. The elections question the commitment of democratic institutions to electoral integrity and credible elections,” a statement by Yiaga read.

PoliticsNow recalls that the November 11 off-cycle governorship elections that were held in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa were marred by allegations of election malpractices, including vote-buying and the parading of pre-filed election sheets, among other things. However, many have continued to fault the election umpire for going ahead to announce the winners of the poll despite the massive allegations of vote-buying and violence at the polls.

Analysts suggest that the umpire should have halted the collation of results to investigate reports that emanated during the conduct of the polls.