By SundiataPOST, Abuja
More condemnation has trailed last Saturday’s conduct of the governorship elections in Anambra State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with the latest coming from pro-democracy groups in the country on Tuesday asking the commission’s chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega to apologise to Nigerians.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and the Transparency center Network (TCN) said Jega must apologise for the apparent failure and administrative flaws that marred the November 16th 2013 governorship poll in Anambra State.
They also asked the hierarchy of the electoral body to prosecute all the electoral officials that colluded with reactionary political forces to undermine the transparent conduct of the bungled election which was declared inconclusive.
According to the groups, the bulk of blame and responsibility lies with INEC which is constitutionally empowered to conduct free, fair and transparent elections nationally.
The groups stated this in a joint statement signed by National coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko who is also deputy chief of mission for Transparency center Network (TCN), an officially accredited election observer to the Anambra State election and the National Director of Media Affairs of HURIWA, Miss Zainab Yusuf.
They noted that the failure of INEC in Anambra State is an unfortunate foretaste of what may happen in 2015 elections unless and except comprehensive reforms are executed in INEC by the National Assembly to make it transparent, accountable, effective and efficient.
Urging INEC to ensure that the supplementary election is conducted without delay, the groups stated: “We are saddened that the electoral commission has once more demonstrated to the world that the relics of inefficiency and corruption that are deeply entrenched in INEC long before the current leadership was appointment have even assumed wider dimension and if these gaps are not quickly fixed, the 2015 election could precipitate major national conflagrations if same administrative flaws seen in Anambra on November 16th 2013 are repeated on national scale”.
