INEC Chairman Admits That February 25 Elections Was Not Perfect

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu has admited that the elections conducted by the Commission on February 25, was not perfect.

Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs.

The INEC chairman said that officials of the commission, including ad-hoc or collation personnel, who may have been found wanting in the conduct of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly Elections will not be involved in the forthcoming elections.

He said; “As we approach the Governorship and State Assembly elections, we must work harder to overcome the challenges experienced in the last election. Nothing else will be acceptable to Nigerians. All staff found to be negligent, whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including Collation and Returning Officers, must not be involved in forthcoming elections. RECs must also immediately initiate disciplinary action where prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has been established”

He said that complaints and petitions from political parties and candidates regarding the February 25 election, were received by the Commission’s state offices. According to him, where unprofessional practice of any kind are proven, there will be redress.

On the day of the next election, Yakubu said that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS will once again be deployed for voter accreditation and result management. He said the deployment of BVAS has gone a long way to sanitise voter accreditation as can be seen from the result of recent elections.

“Since last week, the Commission has intensified the review of the technology to ensure that glitches experienced, particularly with the upload of results are rectified. We are confident that going forward the system will run optimally”, he said.