Edo: APC advises Yiaga Africa on role
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday in Abuja advised Yiaga Africa, a Civil Society Organisation, against constituting itself into a parallel agency for the declaration of election result.
Mr Felix Morka, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, gave the charge in a statement while reacting to Yiaga Africa’s report on the just-concluded Edo governorship election.
He re-emphasised that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the sole statutory authority for the conduct and declaration of election results in the country.
Yiaga Africa, one of the CSOs accredited by INEC to observe the Sept. 21 Edo governorship election, had alleged that the election was characterised by irregularities.
But Morka said that alleging that the election results were manipulated without facts and figures, but based on some statistical guess work, was a clear disservice to the electoral process.
He said Yiaga Africa’s report was a “travesty, replete with methodological flaws, politicised observations, inconsistencies, inaccuracies and called its credibility into question.”
“Election observer missions are not election management agencies and cannot usurp INEC’s statutory authority as the sole election management body in Nigeria.
“Doing so will constitute a clear breach of the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“While election observer missions, like Yiaga Africa, are at liberty to share their observations, declaring election result or second guessing result declared by INEC falls beyond their observation mandate,” Morka said.
According to the APC’s spokesman, Yiaga Africa is out to create unnecessary confusion and the appearance of a parallel election process by its report.
He urged the organisation to refrain from enlisting itself in the season’s annals of infamy.
He expressed appreciation to Tinubu’s administration for ensuring a level playing field to INEC for its professionalism, and to law enforcement agencies for their diligence and service during the election.
He added that by their votes, Edo electorate were loud and clear in their choice of Sen. Monday Okpebholo as the next Governor to lead the state into a new era of peace and prosperity for all.
“Any disputes, contestations or questions about the election may now be submitted to the courts for adjudication in line with electoral and constitutional norms and recourse mechanisms,” Morka said
