APC, PDP, Civil groups, others react to INEC decision on Kogi election

Sen. Dino Melaye said on Sunday in Lokoja that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had accepted the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the inconclusiveness of the Kogi Governorship election.

Dino said this while addressing journalists shortly after the declaration of the results of the election by INEC.

He said that in spite of the inconclusiveness of the election, the APC would eventually win the supplementary election.

He urged party members and supporters to remain calm ”and be confident that victory will surely come”.

In a separate interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Joe Agada, an agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), expressed satisfaction with the decision, adding that it was based on the observation he made.

Agada said that the the PDP would participate in the supplementary election, saying the party could still win the election.

However, Coalition of Civil Society, politicians and voters in Kogi have called on INEC to intensify efforts in educating the electorate on the need to abide by the Electoral Act.

Some of the respondents said that educating the electorate would check the unruly behaviours of voters which could lead to the cancellation of election results.

Mr Habu-Rajan Suleiman, the secretary of the Coalition of Civil Society Groups in the state, told NAN in an interview on Sunday in Lokoja, that the education of voters on the provision of the Electoral Act was imperative in view of the circumstances that led to the cancellation of the results of the election in 91 polling units.

He, however, appealed for calm in the state, adding that the peaceful conduct of the election was the best way to achieve fair, credible and acceptable election in the country.

Also reacting to the development, the Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR), Mr Abdul Miliki, blamed the unruly behaviours of some voters on INEC’s decision.

Miliki told NAN in separate interview that INEC acted in compliance with the Electoral Act, adding that the negative conduct of some of the electorate led to the snatching of ballot boxes and other anomalies which resulted in the inconclusiveness of the election.

He, however, appealed to the parties and their supporters to maintain the peace.

Mr Segun Abayomi, a civil servant, called on the electorates in the state to eschew money politics, adding that it was that kind of mindset that always brought about political crisis.

Abayomi also called on INEC to intensify effort in its voter education programme, adding that doing so would help to guide the electorate in the choice of their leaders.

Evangelist Frank Kato, who is also the Chairman of Independent Democrats (ID), an NGO, called on youths to moderate their actions and to avoid being used as ”stooges to the whims and caprices of selfish politicians”.

He, however, called on security agencies to beef up their operations in the upcoming supplementary election to curb malpractices.

Meanwhile, Mr Tajuddeen Yusuf, a member of the House of Representatives (PDP-Kabba/Bunu), who also spoke with NAN, advised INEC to perfect the application of the card reader in future elections.

Also speaking, Mr Tosin Adeyanju, a Chieftain of the APC in Kabba, headquarters of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of the state, said that APC would still emerge victorious in the supplementary election. (NAN)