Some observer groups have advised INEC to lift the suspension it placed on electoral processes in last Saturday’s legislative re-run elections in Rivers State.
The groups comprising foreign and local observers made the recommendation while releasing a joint report on the overall conduct of the polls across the 23 Local Government Areas of the State. .
INEC in Rivers State accredited 20 persons each from ten observer groups to monitor the March 19th re-run polls.
Some of these groups include the Justice and Equity organization and the West African Network of Election Observers.
According to them, failure of the electoral body to release pending results within the shortest possible time will engender further unrest in an already heated Rivers State polity.
The observers condemned the involvement of soldiers in the last Saturday’s exercise.
They identified incidents such as hijacking of materials, abduction of INEC officials, intimidation and killings as factors responsible for the outcome of the polls.
Others include political bias of ad-hoc staff, late arrival of election materials as well as biased and sensational reporting in certain sections of the media.
For future elections in Nigeria and especially Rivers State, the observers are also calling on INEC to recruit only ad-hoc staff not less than 30-years of age.
They said this would go a long way in improving the quality of work executed by these personnel while on the field.
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