The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) wants the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude those of its staff found to have engaged in malpractices during the February 25, 2023, Presidential and National Assembly elections from participating in the March 11, 2023, gubernatorial and states Houses of Assembly elections.
The NBA made the call on Wednesday in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Habeeb-Lawal.
The association also advised INEC to fix all bugs or glitches that affected the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
In the words of the association: “The NBA urges INEC to ensure that all bugs or glitches in the BVAS machines and other election technology are fixed and improved.
“All INEC staff, including collation and returning officers, with proven cases of misconduct in the February 25 elections should be excluded from the March 11 elections.”
The association urged the Inspector-General of Police to ensure the timely deployment of police officers on duty for the March 11 elections.
It also called on political parties to educate their members and supporters on the need to eschew all forms of actions in violation of the Electoral Act.
The NBA commended Nigerians for their resilience and perseverance in carrying out their civic duties, during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The association encouraged citizens to show same values and resolve in the upcoming governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections.
The NBA urged INEC to address some major challenges observed during the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
“These include the late arrival of INEC officials and ballot materials at the polling stations, malfunctioning BVAS machines, limited or non-transmission of the results from the polling units to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).”
Other challenges are insecurity at some polling units, violent attacks on voters and officials, voter intimidation, snatching and destruction of ballot materials, among others.
The association said that findings from their observers indicated that, only a quarter of the electorate representing 27.1 per cent were impressed with the conduct of the elections.
“The majority of the voters, representing 64.6 per cent, said they are somewhat satisfied,” the NBA said.
It also said that its observers found out that only 8.2 per cent of the electorate rated the election poor or very poor.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NBA Election Working Group deployed over 1,000 INEC accredited observers, drawn from 128 branches of the association to monitor elections across the 36 states and the FCT.
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