NASS elections conformed to democratic election principles  - AU

NASS elections conformed to democratic election principles  - AU
Hauwa Noroh Ali, Abuja

The AU Observer Mission says that the just concluded Parliamentary Elections conformed to the AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa as the results reflected the will of the people.

The AU Observer Mission Leader for the Parliamentary elections, Mr Ahmed Issack Hassan, said that even though there were a lot of challenges which need to be addressed, INEC conducted the elections in a very professional manner.

“We believe that the elections were conducted transparently; they were free, fair and credible. We are saying that INEC has raised the expectation of Nigerians on the Conduct of good elections and as the next two elections approach, INEC needs to step up its game so that it can improve on the standards set”

Recommendations

Mr Hassan, who is also the chairperson, Interim Independent Electoral Commission of Kenya IIEC, said that part of the recommendation to INEC was the intensification of voter education in future elections giving to the fact that many votes were invalidated due to this.

He said that the process of voting in Nigeria leaves a lot to be desired.
“When voters put their thumb print on the ballot paper and fold it, the ink tends to go to another place; unintentionally the voter wants to vote for one party and the ink goes to another place. invalidating the vote”

He called on the Nigerian Government and the Electoral body to simplify the way of voting in future saying, “given the fact that people are educated they can actually tick for the party they are voting for not just putting a thumb print using an ink pad, I think INEC should review the process of voting as a long term recommendation."

For now, it is part of Nigeria’s law that you have to put a thumb print to vote even though you are educated.

He stressed that INEC should review its voter registration procedure to curb underage voting. He stated that at the point of registration a strict mechanism should be put in place asking electorates to produce documents like birth certificates and identification which states the person’s age. 

Commendation

The Mission Leader commended the National Youth Service Corps Members for their dedication and commitment to their work and called on INEC to upgrade training for its ad-hoc staff. 

Former President of Ghana John Kuffor is expected to lead the AU team for  the Presidential Elections which will hold on April 16.

Ekata