The Independent National Electoral Commission has received the backing of Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC), the umbrella body of registered Political Parties on the raging issue of failure to upload results on INEC portal.
The body said it is supporting INEC for the sake of the country’s democracy.
This is as some political parties are calling on INEC to halt the process due to what they perceived as infractions in the process.
They raised the issue of failure of INEC to upload results on its portal for reviews.
But IPAC Chairman, Yabagi Sani, of Action Democratic Party (ADP) urged those with issues to make use of the provisions provided for seeking redress.
He said, “Mr. Chairman, I am here with most members of the council. We are here to express our delight and that this process should continue. This is because if democracy fails, political parties are the first casualties and the biggest losers are the politicians. Democracy is about the people of this country, and we believe that elections are one of the fundamentals of democracy. So the mere fact that it held this election regardless of the circumstances that we held this election, we need to congratulate this country. We are not unmindful of the challenges and we are also happy that the Commission and indeed political parties
experienced some unexpected developments, which, from our investigation, were largely due to some technical problems that are normally associated with anything that is human race. We believe that we are at a crossroads in this country today but Nigeria and indeed Nigerians are highly resilient people. And democracy is a journey and the journey so far, I think we have to congratulate ourselves, because Nigeria matters in the scheme of things globally. We are the pride of the black race, and we should be able to summon the courage and determination to ensure that we conclude this very important process.
It isn’t that we are happy, it isn’t that we agreed and it isn’t that we do not understand the pain that our people are going through. That is democracy and like we say, the show must go on not because we just want to have this as a show, no, but because it is one of the building blocks. This country has the promise of greatness. And, Mr. Chairman, my members are here to encourage you to go ahead and ensure that the process is concluded and concluded well. So that some of our members who may have issues can now do what the process already has made provisions for, which is to seek redress.
So we want to say that, because of this country, and because this moment matters in this country, of course, without prejudice, for whatever position some of our members have taken, we want to be on the side of history and that these processes are concluded and Nigeria becomes greater.
“Mr. Chairman, that is the position of IPAC that is a departure that we want you to continue and conclude this process.”
On his part, Dan Nnwayanu, National Chairman of Zenith Labour Party, said the INEC Chairman should.not be crucified for the hitches.
He however urged Yakubu to deal.with the issues and also not fail to deal with any JNEC officials found wanting in accordance to the laid down laws.
He said, ” I want to add to what our chairman said. We are looking at our country, we have passed through many elections and there is nowhere in the world you don’t have an issue in elections.
“Let me distract you, the last one in the United States, there were problems. Big one. People were aggrieved but the country moved on. Without prejudice to whatever problem that we have seen in the process, we don’t want to pull down this roof, we should not pull down Nigeria because of these problems. Nigeria must exist first, before we become what we want to become.
“In this election, I can say emphatically that there was no problem with the BVAS, it is the final process. The BVAS I can praise to high heavens is the best way to go and that was well thought out by the commission and the political parties.
“I voted, BVAS worked but the problems were at our polling units. And in having issues from ward to ward, State to state, we must remember that we have our laws.
“Years ago, I recall when I was leading a political party, we knew we won Ondo State, we knew we won Edo state and we had one and half governors. One Ondo a half Edo because there was an accord between ACN and then Labour Party. So they took half of Oshiomhole and we took half. We went to court. Even a sitting president said Governor Mimikko will never become a governor in Ondo state. He said publicly that he would send EFCC to him.
“Three days later, the Chairman of EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu said he does not have the file of Mimiko on his desk. We retrieve our mandate. Mimiko govern Ondo State for eight, Adams Oshiomhole govern Edo state for eight years. That means there is a structure in the system.
“If we disagree, we have the law, where INEC is empowered to review some of these problems that have been reported. You can review them. Take your decision, you can reverse the decisions.
“Because why the political parties decided to meet today was simply to talk about, we should look at our country first and nobody should come and tell us to be on the street to destroy our country.
“We live in this country, everything is here. We could have been believed because right now there are many gains from the election.
“Nobody could have believed on 24th of February that Lagos will fall
” Nobody would have believed that three governors lost senatorial seats. One third of the State they govern for eight years they could not win.
“Nobody would believe that a Senator, like Senator Ekwenife who has done everything for her community, including building houses for the widows will fall.
“Who would have believed that an Okada rider is now moving into the House.of of Representatives . This is the same election.
“Mr. Chairman, we have party leaders who lost their polling units.
“This is the same election we want to throw away the baby and the birth water.
“I want to summarise by saying, Mr. Chairman, go ahead and complete this process.
“If we have problems, we know where to go.
” But you have to use that window by the electoral Act given to you to review some of these issues. Reverse them quickly before they expire.
“We cannot accommodate all the time, yes people must have done something else in the state, yes but we are convinced as political parties that worked with you all the way that you consulted all the time on regular basis and that is why when you are talking about the process, we know what you are saying because we are part and parcel of it and we are not ashamed of being part of it.
“Nobody should crucify you Mr. Chairman. He is sitting here but if there are complaints about your people, deal with it expeditiously in accordance with the law. That is what we are saying.
“So let us look at Nigeria. Nigeria is our country. We love this country.”
