Funmi Ogundare

The Nigerian Human Rights Community (NHRC) yesterday called for far-reaching reforms aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s electoral process, even as it described the June 20 governorship election in Ekiti State as credible, free and fair.

Addressing journalists, on its assessment of the Ekiti governorship election in Lagos, leaders of the coalition, including Martins Adeleke, Fred Ojinika and Akinwale Kasali, recommended the introduction of special voting arrangements for essential workers such as journalists, healthcare personnel and security operatives.

The group also called for the amendment of the Electoral Act to accommodate independent candidacy and special consideration for elderly persons, pregnant women, nursing mothers and persons living with disabilities during elections.

It urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to create more polling units in several communities across Ekiti State to ease access to voting centres and reduce voter inconvenience.

The group.expressed concern over what it described as low voter turnout despite the peaceful atmosphere that characterised the election, attributing the trend to economic hardship, transportation challenges, insecurity concerns and declining public confidence in democratic dividends.

According to the coalition, “both INEC and political parties must intensify voter education and mobilisation efforts to encourage greater participation in future elections.”

It noted that it had deployed 200 election monitors across the state, adding that the outcome of the election reflected the true democratic aspirations of the people of Ekiti State and met both national and international standards of credibility, transparency and accountability.

The coalition also commended voters for their peaceful conduct throughout the exercise, saying that the poll was devoid of violence, ballot snatching and other irregularities that had characterised previous elections in the state.

The group added that INEC’s real-time transmission of results enhanced transparency and accountability in the electoral process, stating that improvements in Nigeria’s electoral system, particularly the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), significantly reduced opportunities for electoral fraud.

“Compared with global standards, the election meets international expectations. INEC’s deployment of BVAS eliminated ballot snatching, manipulation of voters’ registers and other forms of electoral fraud, thereby making political thuggery and vote stuffing unattractive,” the group stated.

It commended the professionalism of the Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi, and members of his team for what it described as a transparent and efficient management of the election.

“The election in most places began as scheduled. Voting was generally peaceful, orderly and violence-free. It remains one of the most peaceful elections in the history of Nigeria and particularly in Ekiti State,” the group said.