No fewer than 75 political parties on the platform of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), on Monday, passed a vote of confidence on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for what they called the ‘satisfactory conduct of the 2019 general elections’.
The decision was taken at a national roundtable on the last elections organised by the Centre for Transparency Advocacy and chairmen of the political parties in Abuja.
The council’s Deputy National Chairman, Jeff Ojirika, read the communique of the round-table which was attended by a former Vice President of Sierra Leone, Samuel Sam-Sumana.
The chairmen of the political parties who participated in the roundtable also indicted the nation’s security agencies for allegedly colluding with some unscrupulous politicians during the elections
The communiqué read, “The round-table, after a comprehensive review of the conduct of the 2019 general elections, passes a vote of confidence on the Chairman of the INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, for the successful conduct of the election.
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“The roundtable notes with satisfaction the transparency in communication and regular engagement of stakeholders at the national, state and local government levels which ensured that everybody was carried along in the process.
“The round-table indicts the security agencies for the lapses in the election due largely to their collusion with unscrupulous politicians and negligence to do their jobs.”
They commended the National Assembly for responding to the challenging needs for a responsive legal framework for the conduct of the elections but regretted that non-signing of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill was a major setback on the quality of the electoral process.
They, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sign the Bill into law.
The communiqué added, “The roundtable calls on the National Assembly to immediately re-present to President Muhammadu Buhari the amended electoral and calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to do the needful to ensure that the bill is signed into law.
“The roundtable demands the establishment of electoral offences tribunal to try electoral offenders, which should be structured to take off less than a month after election petition tribunal hearings have concluded.
“Political parties and young people should leverage on the provisions of the Not Too Young to Run Act to increase political participation in subsequent elections.”
