THE National Peace Committee has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate the allegations of infractions made by voters after last Saturday’s presidential election.
The NPC made the call in a statement signed by the chairman of the committee, and former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.
The committee was reacting to allegations of irregularities following the presidential and National Assembly elections conducted Saturday. Gen. Abubakar said the vote of every Nigerian deserves to be protected by INEC.
“Nigerians must be reminded that the world has invested a lot of goodwill towards us in these elections. We have taken note of the dissatisfaction among voters who braved ail harsh weather elements to perform their civic duties. All citizens deserve to be rewarded by a process that ensures that their votes truly count. We appeal to INEC to heed the grievances being expressed, to take the necessary steps to escalate investigations of all allegations of infractions and to ensure that justice is clearly done to all citizens who went out to vote,” the statement read.
Gen. Abubakar said the committee received reports of voter suppression due to several factors stressing that the committee has followed developments from the commencement of voting. He said since INEC has accepted the lapses, there is a need for security agencies to help it investigate the allegations.
“We have received reports of the culture of voter suppression manifested across the country through the application of targeted violence, disruption of processes, inducement of voters, intimidation, deliberate frustrations of voters and the challenges of the election equipment.
“We are pleased that INEC has accepted these lapses and promised to rectify these lapses. We appeal to the Security Agencies to collaborate with INEC in their investigations of these weighty allegations. Concerns about the failures of the INEC Result Viewing Portals (IReV) across the country must be thoroughly investigated to ensure transparency,” he said.
Gen. Abubakar called on presidential candidates to take responsibility for what their spokespersons and agents say.
“In the spirit of the Peace Accord which all Candidates and their Chairmen signed on February 23”, 2023, the NPC appeals to all the Presidential Candidates, the Chairmen of Parties to take full responsibility for statements made by their Spokespersons and Agents. We appeal to all our citizens to remain calm while INEC continues with its process to its conclusion,” he said.
