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Tuesday, April 23
Addressing a news conference in the Ikeja, Lagos, Eze Nwagwu, a board member of the group said “a simple interaction with citizens in the streets 72 hours before the election revealed that the majority of respondents were not aware of the election.” He made the statement when discussing the “emerging issues” regarding the Saturday polls.
This, he said, “will raise questions of accountability and transparency by the commission.” The group’s director of programs, Cynthia Mbamalu, said that observation shows that 12 political parties will be contesting the LGA polls, however, the campaigns were dominated by the All Progressive Congress (APC) and People Democratic Party (PDP).
“This calls on the leadership of parties like the APC to ensure speedy resolution in the 24hours leading to the election.” She noted that the provisions for accreditation of the election observers remain unclear 24 hours before the polls.
This challenge makes it exceedingly difficult for an independent nonpartisan organization to play their vital role as observers in the electoral process.” She said although political parties waived off combination fees for women aspirants, it did not promote more women as party candidates.
“Groups who applied for accreditation via the commission’s website as directed waited endlessly for feedback from the commission on the status of the accreditation,” he said.
“Similarly, engagement with some CSOs in the state revealed that the commission is not responding to inquiries for updates on the LGA elections.” Mr Nwagwu said there is a possibility of limiting the participation of stakeholders especially observers.
Thus there are concerns the Saturday Local Government election may not have adequate plans for the electoral participation of the PWD communities.” Mr Nwagwu charged the electoral commission to ensure early deployment of electoral materials to the poll in units.
“The violent clashes that engulfed the conduct of political party primaries in some LGA’s and the pre-election cases in court also indicate unresolved grievances,” Mbamalu said..
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