From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
An election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa, has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to audit the newly created polling units and ensure equitable distribution of voters to the polling units.
Speaking at a press conference in Osogbo, Sunday, the Board Chairman and Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Hussain Abdu and Samson Itodo said in cases where voters have been allotted to new polling units, INEC should update the voter records on its website and communicate the changes to prevent voter disenfranchisement.
It commended the peaceful conduct of the Saturday governorship election in Osun State, early arrival of polling officials, deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and conduct of security operatives.
The election observer group also condemned intimidation of voters in some areas, attack on corps members, disruption of the voting and result collation process by hoodlums.
“Yiaga Africa commends the people of Osun for their resilience and commitment to a non-violent election. We encourage the voters to sustain their participation in the electoral process beyond the elections by holding political parties and candidates accountable
“Yiaga Africa commends the dedication of the permanent INEC staff in Abuja and Osun state who organized the election and the commitment of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who served as poll officials. Yiaga Africa would like to thank other sister election observer groups and the international community for their solidarity and support.”
Yiaga Africa reiterated its commitment to promoting more credible elections by providing independent information on the conduct of elections and independently verifying the accuracy of election results.