By Abdulrahman Aliagan, Ilorin
The United States (US) Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, has berated Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC over the irregularities that marred the conduct of the just concluded elections held on the 25th of February, she noted that the election failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians and left many Nigerians angry and frustrated.
The ambassador said in a statement issued on Sunday, March 5. “It is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations”.
She said that the poll was riddled with irregularities that affected the voting and counting process.
Also, she asked Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address the range of problems that marred the election before the March 11 governorship and state assembly polls.
According to her, INEC should provide the citizens with information on solutions adopted and their level of effectiveness.
“We thus reiterate our call on INEC to address promptly the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections and to undertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix them.
“In all cases, INEC should share with the Nigerian public information about its actions.”
This, according to her, would ensure a positive growth trend for Nigeria’s democracy.
“Nigeria has accomplished much in just two decades since the return to democracy. A gradual improvement in the quality of its elections in that time constitutes one of those accomplishments. We recognise that Nigerians want that positive trend to continue, including using new technology to make reporting results more transparent.”
She further advised those who are not satisfied with the election result to seek legal solutions.
The ambassador said, “It will be necessary for the future of this country that Nigerians do not let their differences divide them and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.”
In the same vein, the US government representative notes that the last election produced some remarkable results which show that the Nigerian political landscape is changing.
In about 20 states, the winning candidate and incumbent governor were in different political parties, and 12 of such states are led by All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, she said.
“For the first time, four presidential candidates won at least one state, and the top three each won 12 states based on these initial results. In the National Assembly elections, even with incomplete results, we already know that changes are afoot.
“Seven sitting governors lost in their attempts to win election to the Assembly; the Labor Party has won at least seven seats in the Senate; the NNPP has won at least 11 seats in the House of Representatives,” she added.
APC candidate Bola Tinubu was declared winner of the Presidential election with 8,794,726 votes, defeating 17 other candidates.
He also had over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.
However, both Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party (LP) flagbearer Peter Obi have faulted the process and vowed to challenge the result in court.