The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prevent its staff from participating in the March 11 governorship and State assemblies elections if they were involved in irregularities during the February 25 elections.
In a statement that was signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Habeeb-Lawal, on Wednesday in Abuja, the NBA made the call.
Additionally, the association advised INEC to address any issues with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines utilized in the presidential and national assembly elections.
“The NBA urges INEC to fix and improve all BVAS machines and other election technology bugs.”
It stated, “All INEC staff, including collation and returning officers, should be excluded from the March 11 elections with proven cases of misconduct in the Feb. 25 elections.”
The association pleaded with the Inspector-General of Police to ensure that police officers will be on duty for the elections on March 11 in a timely manner.
It also urged political parties to educate their members and supporters about the importance of abstaining from any and all acts that violate the Electoral Act.
During the presidential and national assembly elections, the NBA praised Nigerians for their resilience and persistence in performing civic duties.
In the upcoming elections for governorship and state houses of assembly, the association urged citizens to exhibit the same values and resolve.
The NBA urged INEC to address some significant issues that were discovered during the presidential and national assembly elections on February 25.
It stated, “These include the late arrival of INEC officials and materials for the ballot at the polling stations, malfunctioning BVAS machines, and limited or non-transmission of the results from the polling units to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).”
Insecurity at some polling places, violent attacks on voters and officials, voter intimidation, snatching, and destruction, among other obstacles, are additional obstacles.
According to the association, observations by their observers showed that only 27.1% of voters were pleased with how the elections were conducted.
It stated, “The majority of voters, representing 64.6%, said they are somewhat satisfied.”
It also stated that its observers discovered that only 8.2% of voters rated the election as poor or very poor.
Over 1,000 INEC-accredited observers from 128 NBA branches were deployed by the NBA Election Working Group, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), to observe elections in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
