Nigeria’s most vocal opposition party, the Action Congress (AC), has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its failure to accredit “credible observer groups” for Saturday’s governorship re-run in South West Ekiti state.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said INEC’s decision to accredit “only the groups that catch its fancy”, rather than those widely acclaimed as credible, could be a signal to how the commission would conduct the elections.
“Apart from the TMG (Transition Monitoring Group), we do not know any of the 24 groups accredited by INEC that can be counted upon to carry out an unbiased monitoring. We say this based on record of performance, not to cast aspersion on any group,’’ AC said.
The party wondered why a credible and tested group like the Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE) was not accredited by INEC, considering the importance of the Ekiti re-run in Nigeria’s quest for the organisation of free and fair elections – elections that will not only be deemed free and fair by INEC but by credible observers and all Nigerians.
AC said whether or not INEC registered credible observer groups, every citizen of Ekiti State and beyond had taken it upon himself/herself to closely monitor Saturday’s election, warning INEC not to play any game with the re-run.
It said: “INEC has more to lose or gain than any other group in Saturday’s re-run. Whether or not Nigerians can continue to trust INEC to organise elections in this country will depend on the way the re-run goes.
“For this reason, the commission must avail itself creditably on Saturday. Unfortunately, the signals we are getting are not too re-assuring.’’