A 92-year-old grandmother casts her vote moments ago at Polling Unit 002, Ward 6, Baptist Primary School 1, Isore/Ikonifin, in Ola-Oluwa local government area
UK Government commends INEC for Osun election’s ‘consistent’ results
United Kingdom government has thumbed up the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over its conduct of the Osun Governorship Elections concluded in the state, Saturday, saying the results were ‘consistent with the results obtained through civil society-led Parallel Vote Tabulation process.’
Giving the commendation in a statement issued Monday through its High Commission in Abuja, the UK government also hailed the people of Osun ‘for their active, peaceful and democratic participation in the governorship election.’
The statement titled; ‘British High Commission Statement on the Osun State Governorship Election 2022,’ was made available to the media, Monday.
This is also as it commended civil society groups led by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and all stakeholders for their contribution towards the success of the political exercise.
According to UK, while it noted that incidents of vote buying still occurred during the election, it, however, urged ‘that persons involved are held to account by relevant authorities.’
UK particularly commended INEC for improvements in the electoral process, following the governorship elections in Ekiti State last month, even as it also observed that the country’s electoral umpire had, among other things, improved in the areas of timely opening of polls, functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices for accreditation of voters and the electronic transmission of results, among others.
“The British High Commission congratulates the people of Osun State for their active, peaceful and democratic participation in the governorship election that was held on Saturday 16, July, 2022. We note that the results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are consistent with the results obtained through civil society-led Parallel Vote Tabulation process.
“We commend INEC, the security agencies, civil society partners led by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and all stakeholders for their contribution to the success of the process.
“Our mission which observed the election on Saturday was encouraged by the continuing improvements in the electoral process, following the governorship elections in Ekiti State last month. The timely opening of polls, functionality of the BVAS devices for accreditation of voters and the electronic transmission of results, accessibility provisions for people with disabilities and vulnerable voters and increased turnout of voters were all factors worth commending about the process.
“We are concerned by reports from some locations of apparent vote buying and hope that persons involved are held to account by relevant authorities.
“As Nigeria approaches the 2023 general elections, we encourage INEC and all relevant stakeholders to build on the progress made in the last two governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States, as it builds on the strong legal foundation provided by the new Electoral Act to implement an electoral system that promotes the free and meaningful participation of young people, women, persons with disabilities and citizens generally in democratic process.
“The UK will continue to support Nigeria, its institutions and civil society in drawing lessons from those elections to secure the integrity of its electoral system and the deepening of Nigeria’s democracy,” the statement read.
