The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has said that the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections were substantially free and fair and congratulated the president-elect and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, asking him to run an inclusive government.
The group in a statement by the spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman and made available to LEADERSHIP Friday in Abuja yesterday said except for scattered reports of late arrival of officials and materials in some places, the commencement of the exercise was so flawless and that most prominent Nigerian leaders including contestants to various offices acknowledged it as free, fair and simplified at the point of casting their votes.
He said despite these reported delays in some places, polling staff generally conducted their duties transparently and diligently, pointing out that for the first time ever, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was introduced into the process and it functioned satisfactorily in most polling units.
“This technological improvement came about with the enactment of a new Electoral Act in 2022, which gave the electoral commission more autonomy, legal backing for the use of electronic accreditation of voters and frameworks for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the elections, among other things.
But as is usual with technology everywhere, flaws were detected in some places in the operation of the BVAS as it was seen to be faster with facial recognition than with detecting fingerprints during accreditation,” he said.
He added that typical of all democratic electoral processes, towards the end of the exercise, the usual disputes over credibility set in with some candidates and political parties raising concerns of irregularities and calling for the immediate suspension and eventual cancelation of the already advanced process.
“This dispute was started with the European Union observers claiming the exercise was not exactly fair; a claim which was contradicted by the Commonwealth observation team which insisted that the elections were freely and fairly conducted.
In any case, the power to upturn or order the cancellation of elections as sought by the European Observers is invested in courts of competent jurisdiction and not in INEC.
The group appreciated the sportsmanship by the candidates of especially the three major contending parties- PDP, LP and NNPP for showing leadership by gently calming frayed nerves and opting for judicial resolution and not inciting violence.
The group congratulated the newly elected President and reminded him that Nigerian voters trusted him to lead them in the hope for a leadership that will make them more secure and provide their children with a productive future and urged him to be magnanimous in victory by carrying everybody along irrespective of tribe, religion, region or political affiliation and to operate inclusive government.
