Observers Okay Delta Governorship Election Re-Run

Observers Okay Delta Governorship Election Re-Run

Head of Political and Economic Section of the US Consulate-General, Mr. Philip Drouin, says the January 6 Delta state governorship re-run election is ‘impressive' .

Drouin said ''as an American, I must say that I am really impressed. '' The voters were orderly while the election was free and fair.

''In terms of security, the Police were very effective because people felt safe to cast their votes, and I must say that this election was quite better than the previous ones ,'' he added.

Drouin, however, said that people had raised some concerns about the election.

Such concerns, he said, included late arrival of voting materials, short period of accreditation and voters not being able to find their names in the voters' register.

''And from all we can say from this election, voting materials were delivered to various polling centres compared to previous elections,'' he said.

He also advised INEC to give voters enough time for registration and accreditation, noting that both were key issues in an election.

Commenting on the conduct of the election, Mr. Tunde Bafunsho, of Equity and Justice Organisation, said the election was credible but there were some hitches.

Such hitches, he added, included snatching of ballot boxes and late arrival of voting materials.

''My advice to INEC is to improve on these lapses in the forthcoming general election,'' he said.

NAN/Margaret/Yinka