The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CSJET) has praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its chairman Mahmood Yakubu for the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
The Center advised politicians who were unhappy with the results to seek legal and democratic means of addressing their grievances instead of discrediting INEC.
This comes after Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party’s criticisms of the presidential election, accusing INEC and its senior officers of partisanship.
Admitting that the elections had some challenges, CSJET’s executive secretary, Isaac Ikpa, hailed INEC for noticeable improvements in the electoral process and its results.
The organization cautioned unsatisfied politicians against any form of blackmail against INEC and its boss, encouraging them to resort to lawful means of seeking redress for their dissatisfaction with the electoral process and the outcome.
According to them: “CSJET commends INEC’s chairman for his display of courage in ensuring the credibility of the electoral process in spite of some challenges. Our position is hinged on the fact that we gathered reports from observers across the country on the electoral process. The majority of the outcome was positive, indicating that the elections were free, fair, and credible.”
A statement by the group further stated that “This much was admitted by some international observer missions that rated the 2023 general elections as credible and arguably one of Nigeria’s most keenly contested elections. The centre commends Prof Yakubu particularly on the technological innovations that were introduced in spite of efforts by saboteurs to discredit the electoral process.”
“The 2023 general elections were indeed free, fair, and credible. We advise persons and groups threatening INEC and its chairman to face their opponents. The 2023 general elections would go down in history as one of the most keenly contested elections as well as one of the freest, fairest, and most credible elections in the country’s annals,’’ noted CSJET.
