Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti

The people and government of Ekiti State have been commended over their peaceful conduct during the just concluded local government elections.

    The people of the state were also hailed for voting enmasse for all the  38 chairmen and 177 councilors from the rulling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The coalition of 135 Civil Society Organisation, Nigerian Human Rights Community, NIHRCO, which monitored the elections in 177 wards across the state,  said the exercise has once again demonstrated the quality of leadership in the state.

NIHRCO which is a coalition of 135 civil societies and community based groups spread across the country established in 2003 and advocated for more polling units and Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) for the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC).

The NIHRCO explained that the elections apart from being peaceful, were also devoid of violence and rigging while the outcome represented the freewill of the voters.

The coalition in a statement signed by its officials asked other states  within the southwest that are yet to conduct local government elections to do so, stressing that council administration was essential to democracy and development.

It said a comprehensive report on the election is being put together which will be distributed across democratic institutions at home and abroad on lessons learnt and the challenges.

The coalition commended EKSIEC for early arrival of materials and effective administration of the entire process that had almost zero hitches.

“The Ekiti State Local Government election is a confirmation that states can run their own affairs even better in many respect than the central government.

The materials arrived on time, while the voters were orderly and cultured. It said that there was no intimidation of voters while financial inducement was not witnessed by any of our observers.”

The coalition however said the turnout was above national average but not in line with global expectations. It said monitors observed that the opposition parties were non-challant towards the election,

The coalition also advocates that Ekiti needs more polling units given the growing population and the increasing number of new settlements observed during the election which were not hitherto covered either by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or SEIC.

The coalition said monitoring local government election is as important as observing National elections, adding that there was always the need for a third party opinion so that the content of the elections and its impact on the future of democracy in Nigeria will be better appreciated.

“According to the coalition, the National Assembly and the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC needs to work with the State Independent Electoral Commission, SIEC to ensure that Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, (BVAS) are deployed in local elections.

The group said using BVAS for National Elections is good but that the same technology should be used in local government elections which may require special funds for SIECs to enable the institution develop the technology that will broaden popular participation, ensure real time transmission of results taking local government elections into a higher level.