Yiaga calls for calm as Nigerians await results of governorship, house of assembly election

An election observer group, Yiaga Africa has called on political parties, their supporters and voters across the states to remain calm and peaceful as the results collation process is still ongoing.

The organisation made the appeal during a press conference on Sunday in Abuja to present its second report on the conduct of the March 18, 2023 governorship and the house of assembly election.

Yiaga Executive Director, Samson Itodo said only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had the legal mandate to announce the election results and return a candidate as a winner

The statement said: “As INEC continues to collate results, we encourage all citizens, candidates and supporters to remain calm and peaceful, and reject any call for violence. Only INEC has the legal mandate to announce the election results and return a candidate as a winner.

“We urge all stakeholders to respect the commission’s constitutional power and refrain from declaring election results. Yiaga Africa enjoins citizens to remain calm and maintain peace as INEC collates the results.”

The organisation said it would be deploying the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology to observe the governorship elections in Benue, Delta and Kano States.

“Yiaga Africa continues to monitor the results collation until the final completion. As soon as INEC announces the official results, Yiaga Africa will convene a press conference to share its statement on the accuracy of the election results,” the statement added.

Itodo said the governorship election recorded 216 critical incidents which have ramifications on the credibility of the polls.

He urged INEC to ensure proper oversight of the results collation process and ensure that results declared under duress or in breach of the Electoral Act, INEC Guidelines or Manual are reviewed in line with Section 65 of the Electoral Act.