EDOCSO Demands Apology From EDSIEC For Poor LGA Polls

Following the local government council elections in Edo State that were marred by irregularities at most voting centers, the Edo Civil Society Organization (EDOCSO) on has called on the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act, 2022 to empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local government polls.
The CSOs made the call in a statement signed by Austine Enabulele, and Grace Okike, the interim TEC chairman, and secretary respectively, on the recent local government election as well as to call for an end to cult-related killings in the state.
According to the CSOs, Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) should apologize to Nigerians for the poor conduct of the election, which they described as a “national embarrassment”.
Condemning the conduct of the elections, EDOCSO described the exercise as a waste of voters’ time and state resources.
“We want to say to Edo State government and politicians that going forward in Local Government Council elections, if they are not ready to run a free and fair elections, it is better for them to appoint their illegal Caretaker Committee chairmen or whatever title they choose to call them for Local Government Councils instead of wasting the precious time of voters on election day and of course, our little resources on a charade called election”.
They called for an amendment of the Electoral Law 2022 to make local government council elections the sole duty of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
“The National Assembly should as a matter of public urgency, quickly amend the Electoral Act to give INEC the power to conduct Local Government Council elections in states. Even though their own credibility is shaking too, it will still be better than what we get from state electoral umpires,” the CSOs statement read.
Speaking on the issue of cult killings in the state, they called on youths in the state to shun cultism and other social vices, and instead, focus on building a better future for themselves just as they threw their weight behind actions being taken by the police command to apprehend criminals in the state.
“We want to also call on the Nigeria Police, Edo State Command, led by CP Dankwara, to let the officers know that the raiding going on in Edo now against the cultists, is supported by us,” they stated but warned, “they should not use it as an opportunity to milk innocent Edolites whom they know are not involved in cultism and still collect money from them”.
“We expect that the patrol and raiding will be done professionally to clean the state and fish out these unscrupulous elements who don’t want us all to have peace in the name of cultism,” they added.