Mr Israel Ayeni, a former Secretary General of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Ondo State, has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the conduct of presidential and national assembly elections across the country.
Ayeni, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Akure, said that proper preparations by INEC enhanced a good turnout of eligible voters.
“I must commend the government and INEC for putting up a good job for the 2023 general elections.
“Though there were some irregularities, I still believe that our democracy is being strengthened, gradually.
“It is observed that some people were exchanging bank vouchers in form of recharge cards which automatically credit the loader’s bank account.
“This is an act of electoral rigging and should be checked by the appropriate authority.
“So far, the election process has been a peaceful one but I encourage the electoral body to put more effort into ensuring that there is more sanity in the electoral system,” he stated.
He added that the electoral body should be time conscious and ensure that ad-hoc staff were in polling units before the start-up time.
According to him, there is a need to improve the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for uninterrupted functionality.
Ayeni charged INEC to ensure safety at every polling unit.
“The security agents did their best, but there should be more CCTV cameras placed in each polling unit for monitoring. Most people who got bank vouchers would have been caught in the act,” he said.
Ayeni congratulated all would-be winners in the Saturday elections, asking them to work together with their co-contestants in promoting peace and tranquility that would promote national unity and progress of the country. (NAN)
