Am Worried About Safety Of Elections, Says Adegboruwa

Eniola Olayemi

Human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s decision to postpone Presidential and National Assembly elections, after deploying sensitive materials for the exercise is worrisome. He said, “Elections may be postponed where there is “reason to believe that serious breach of the peace is likely to occur” or “it is impossible to conduct the elections as a result of natural disasters or other emergencies and the reasons must be cogent and verifiable.

He argued that hiding under logistics and operational guidelines, INEC has more or less tied the hands of Nigerians and brought about an avoidable situation of complete helplessness.

“Once materials are tampered with, that erodes the credibility of the entire electoral exercise. It is clear that INEC cannot be left alone with the responsibility of conducting free, fair and credible elections.

“Civil society organisations (CSOs), local and foreign observers, security agencies and other stakeholders, must collaborate with INEC to assist in delivering the electoral mandate to the expectations of all Nigerians and indeed the world,” he added. He also said the National Assembly should exercise its oversight functions over INEC to make it discharge its responsibilities efficiently.