The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, charged Yiaga Africa to desist from constituting itself into a parallel agency for the declaration of election results.
Felix Morka, APC’s National Publicity Secretary gave the charge in a statement while reacting to Yiaga Africa’s report on the just concluded Edo governorship election.
Mr Morka re-emphasised that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the sole statutory authority for the conduct and declaration of election results in the country.
Yiaga Africa, one of the Civic Society Organisations (CSO) accredited by INEC to observe the September 21, 2024, Edo governorship election alleged that the election was characterised by irregularities.
But Mr Morka said that Yiaga’s allegation that the election results were manipulated without facts and figures but based on some statistical guesswork was a clear disservice to the electoral process.
He said Yiaga Africa’s report was a travesty, replete with methodological flaws, politicised observations, inconsistencies, inaccuracies and called its credibility into question.
“Election observer missions are not election management agencies and cannot usurp INEC’s statutory authority as the sole election management body in Nigeria.
“Doing so would constitute a clear breach of the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“While election observer missions, like Yiaga Africa, are at liberty to share their observations about the election process with INEC and the general public.
“Declaring election results or second guessing results declared by INEC in performance of its statutory duties falls beyond their observation mandate,” Mr Morka said.
He criticised the declaration or second-guessing the Edo governorship election result based on unsubstantiated, unverified, questionable statistical parameters created by Yiaga Africa.
According to the APC’s spokesman, Yiaga Africa is out to create unnecessary confusion and the appearance of a parallel election process by its report.
He urged the organisation to refrain from enlisting itself in the season’s annals of infamy.
“The election’s outcome is an unequivocal rejection of the Governor Godwin Obaseki administration’s bad governance and endorsement of President Bola Tinubu’s visionary policies.
“Which have transformed Nigeria’s economic landscape, strengthened security, and promoted good governance,” Mr Morka added.
He expressed appreciation to Mr Tinubu’s administration for ensuring a level playing field to INEC for its professionalism, and to law enforcement agencies for their diligence and service during the election.
He added that by their votes, the Edo electorates were loud and clear in their choice of Monday Okpebholo as the next governor to lead the state into a new era of peace and prosperity for all.
“Any disputes, contestations or questions about the election may now be submitted to the courts for adjudication in line with electoral and constitutional norms and recourse mechanisms,” Mr Morka stressed.
