The Global Economic Policy Initiative has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the security agencies for a “largely peaceful and orderly general election.”
The group in a statement signed by its Chairman, Bernard Okri, in Asaba, Delta State, stated that the observations it made from its situation room showed that the conduct of the February 23rd 2019 election were largely peaceful, orderly with votes counting.
“We have taken a granular look and appreciation of the reports of the conduct of the election from all 36 states of the Federation, and we are generally impressed by what we have seen and in some cases, witnessed.
“The voter turnout was largely impressive given the postponement of the election and the presumption that there would be voter apathy as a result.
“Despite violence in some areas in states like Benue, Rivers, Lagos, Zamfara and Ebonyi, the general outlook of the elections was largely peaceful; security agents were seen across polling units.”
The group also observed that people who came out to vote were orderly in their conduct, queuing appropriately, and waiting for the votes to count even up till midnight in some case.
It went further to state that INEC had proven itself a credible electoral umpire, despite the postponement of the elections.
“We commend INEC for the job done. It was tough, tedious and with a tyranny of expectations, they were able to pull through across the country.”
The group noted that with 71 Presidential candidates on the ballot sheet and over 80 million registered voters, INEC had a very difficult job to do, and it did it well going by the turn out of events.
The group commended Nigerians for their believe in democracy and their determination to ensure that their votes counted.
