An International Election observer group has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the efficient performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the ongoing Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections.
The Executive Director, Your Votes Is Your Voice Africa, Babatunde Adebayo, made the commendation on Saturday while speaking with journalists at Polling Unit 004, Garki Village in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
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Mr Adedayo, who led a team of observers to various parts of the council, said the technical improvements recorded in the current exercise surpassed previous electoral outings.
“I have observed polling unit 036 and presently I am at polling unit 004. The BVAS machines are working perfectly well so far.
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“I want to commend the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for the good job he has done compared to previous elections. He has done an excellent job before exiting the office,” he said.
He urged the present INEC Chairperson, Josh Amupitan, to sustain what he met and improve on it.
The executive director also noted that the atmosphere remained peaceful across the units visited, saying that no incident of electoral malpractices, especially vote buying, was recorded so far.
He described the overall process as peaceful, noting that voters were turning out steadily to exercise their franchise without intimidation.
“So far, people are coming out to exercise their franchise and the voting process looks promising. I have not witnessed any case of vote buying; voting is ongoing peacefully,” he added.
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However, the observer raised concerns over the continued operation of some businesses during voting hours, which contributed to the low turnout of voters.
He urged the authorities and electoral stakeholders to intensify awareness campaigns to ensure that shop owners and entrepreneurs close their businesses to participate in the civic process in future elections.
“My only concern is about shop owners doing business during the election. There should be a way to create more awareness and encourage them not to keep their shops open during voting hours, this will encourage high turnout of voters,” he said.
(NAN)
