N’Assembly okays outcome of Saturday’s polls

THE National Assembly has endorsed the outcome of the Presidential and National Asembly elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) across the country last Saturday.

The parliament also commended the high sense of sportsmanship exhibited by President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat when he called to congratulate the President-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari.

The lawmakers said the congratulatory message helped to douse the palpable fear which pervaded the political atmosphere in the country and averted violence following the polls.

Speaking during a visit to the INEC’s Headquarters in Abuja yesterday, Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Andy Ubah also hailed the resilience and tenacity of the commission, which he said gave rise to the violence-free outcome of the March 28, 2015 elections.

Ubah who was accompanied on the visit by his counterpart and Chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Jerry Manwe expressed optimism that the subsequent Governorship as well as state Houses of Assembly elections across the states would be improved upon by the commission.
He said the few hiccups and other untoward incidents which manifested during the last elections were human errors and charged the commission to work hard to address the observed challenges so as to improve on the forthcoming elections.

“A lot of people expected that Nigeria will split as a result of the polls but God answered our prayers,” Ubah said.

Speaking in the same vein, Manwe also charged the commission to tackle the challenges associated with the use of the card readers, just as he assured that the parliament was ready to collaborate with INEC in order to facilitate the success of subsequent polls in the country.

“There were hiccups here and there because this is the first time the card reader is being used in Nigeria. But there is every room for perfection. However, the card reader has achieved what it was intended for,” he said.

Manwe said special commendation should be accorded President Jonathan and the INEC boss, who he described as heroes, hence the leadership of the committees of the two chambers over sighting INEC were at the commission’s headquarters to encourage the authorities ahead of the forthcoming elections.

Earlier in his welcome address, the INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega assured that the commission will do all in its responsibility to address the hiccups which characterized the use of the card readers before the conduct of the forthcoming governorship as well as State Houses of Assembly elections.

“INEC is committed to improving elections in the country. We have identified some of the challenges and will ensure that they are addressed before the governorship and state assembly elections. We hope to continue to work with the National Assembly so that we keep improving the electoral process and deepen our democracy,” he said.