Abuja, March 2, 2023 -The Police Chaplains Electoral Observation Mission in Nigeria and eight domestic observer groups have described the conduct of Saturday’s election as an indication of Nigeria’s political maturity.
The Police Chaplains Electoral Observation Mission in Nigeria is an arm of the International Police Chaplain Sustainable Development and Law Enforcement (IPCSL) Inc., U.S.
Other groups are the Grassroots Empowerment Initiative for Positive Change and Development, Voters Awareness Initiative, Society for the Protection of Human Rights, African Civil Society Forum, Africa Youths International Development Foundation, Pan African Leadership League, Centre for Strategic Conflicts Management, and Youth and Public Safety Awareness Initiative.
The observer groups said this while presenting their preliminary report on Wednesday in Abuja.
Johannes Makouvia, the head of IPCSL Mission, described the exercise as peaceful, while presenting the preliminary report on the election.
He said the process conformed to the international standard, adding that the security forces’ discreet presence in most polling centres allowed for the peaceful conduct of the voting process.
According to him, electoral law stipulates that voting is secret and that each polling station has at least one voting booth, saying the mission observed compliance with this provision in the polling stations visited.
Makouvia said that it helped to guarantee the secrecy of the vote, adding that voting in the polling was well attended in the morning, but the pace slowed in the afternoon.
“Overall turnout was orderly and calm, and voters cast their ballots peacefully without major incidents.
“The mission found that, in general, voting procedures were followed by polling station officials.
“The IPCSL found that candidate delegates were able to freely exercise their mission in the polling stations observed. This is a sign of political maturity that contributed to the normal functioning of the polling stations.”
Blessing Akinlosotu, the National Commandant of IPSCL in Nigeria, said IPCSL deployed 178 observers in the election and visited 2,297 polling stations throughout the country.
He said that 66 per cent of polling stations opened on time at 8:30 am, while 34 per cent opened late due to late installation of equipment. (GBN)
