Edo: Don’t Constitute Parallel Agency -APC Tells Yiaga Africa

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has urged Yiaga Africa to desist from constituting itself into a parallel agency for the declaration of election result.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, gave the charge in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja while reacting to Yiaga Africa’s report on the just concluded Edo governorship election.

Morka stressed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, remains the sole statutory authority for the conduct and declaration of election results in the country.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Yiaga Africa, one of the Civil Society Organisations accredited by INEC to observe the September 21 Edo governorship election had alleged that the election was characterised by irregularities.

Responding, Morka said alleging that the election results were manipulated without facts and figures, but based on some statistical guess work was a clear disservice to the electoral process.

According to him, Yiaga Africa’s report was a travesty, replete with methodological flaws, politicised observations, inconsistencies, inaccuracies and called its credibility into question.

“Election observer missions are not election management agencies and cannot usurp INEC’s statutory authority as the sole election management body in Nigeria.

“Doing so would constitute a clear breach of the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“While election observer missions, like Yiaga Africa, are at liberty to share their observations about the election process with INEC and the general public.

“Declaring election result or second guessing result declared by INEC in performance of its statutory duties, falls beyond their observation mandate,” Morka said.

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