By VICTOR NWACHUKWU

Imo Youths for a New Nigeria has urged INEC to correct the mistakes of the 2023 General Elections with upcoming Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections

The Convener of the sociopolitical pressure group, Mr Chidiebube Okeoma, said this while addressing newsmen in Owerri, on Saturday.

Okeoma, while analysing the outcome of the 2023 Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, said INEC failed to meet up with the expectations of millions of Nigerians.

He called on the electoral umpire to utilise the opportunity of the November 11 governorship elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa to right their wrongs.

He noted that while most Nigerians relied on the dictates of the Electoral Act as amended, hopes were dashed when election results were not collated using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BiVAS) machine.

These flaws and others, he said, must be corrected to restore confidence of voters in the electoral process.

“The 2023 general elections failed to meet the expectations of millions of Nigerians; from vote buying to hijacking of electoral materials, to mutilation of election results, to going against the 2022 electoral act as amended, to voter intimidation and suppression, to electoral violence, the whole process was below standard.

“Politicians openly rigged the elections in their favour and openly bragged and mocked the judiciary by asking those who opposed their rigging tactics to go to court,” he said.

Okeoma, an activist, said that with the flawed process, INEC now had the opportunity of working to ensure that the governorship elections holding in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa in November were conducted in strict adherence to the electoral act 2022 as amended.

He maintained that If the November 11 elections were not perfectly conducted, millions of Nigerians might not be participating in future elections.

“INEC has a golden opportunity before it. It has the rare opportunity of using the three off-season governorship elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa to regain the trust of millions of Nigerians.

“Already, many have decided that they won’t vote again going forward but if INEC conducts credible elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa in November, millions may rescind their decision of not wanting to vote again.

“INEC has no reason to fail Nigerians in November because unlike the February 25 and March 18 elections, the November 11 elections are just taking place in three states.

“They have ample time to prepare and enough workforce to prosecute the elections in line with international best practices,” he said. (NAN)

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