Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue; his deputy, Mr Benson Abounu, on Friday received their Certificates of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Makurdi. Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue; his deputy, Mr Benson Abounu, on Friday received their Certificates of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Makurdi.
The newly elected legislators who also received their
certificates are: the incumbent Speaker, Benue House of Assembly, Mr
Titus Uba and 29 other members-elect.
The INEC Federal
Commissioner in charge of Benue, Anambra and Enugu states, Mr Festus
Okoye, presented the certificates to the governor, his deputy and the
legislators-elect at the IBB square.
He blamed the incidents of ballot-box snatching and thuggery on politicians.
He absolved the commission of such electoral infractions, saying the commission never recruited ballot-box snatchers and thugs.
Okoye also blamed politicians for refusing to play the game according to the rules.
He,
therefore, appealed to the media to focus their searchlights on the
political parties and politicians, pointing out that INEC did its best
in conducting the polls.
He lambasted the political parties for
the shoddy manner in which party primaries were conducted and regretted
that the commission was suffering the aftermath of such poor primaries
by court orders handed down to it.
Speaking after receiving the
certificate, Ortom commended President Mohammadu Buhari for not
interfering in the 2019 elections despite alleged “immense pressure”
from party members.
“I commend President Buhari for not
interfering in the electoral process in spite of the immense pressure
from his party supporters to do so.
“If he had interfered in the
process, maybe, the peace we are enjoying today while receiving these
certificates would not have been there.”
He said that the
President’s decision to allow the votes of Benue people to count was
commendable and promised to work with him to bring dividends of
democracy to the state.
The governor also commended the INEC,
their agents for the high display of professionalism during the
elections despite the untoward attitude of some politicians.
He, however, appealed to the commission to improve its performances in subsequent elections.
Ortom
also commended the entire security operatives in the state for their
neutrality during the elections, saying, “I am yet to receive any report
of security interference in the elections.”
He appealed to politicians to eschew bitterness and join him to move the state forward.
Earlier,
the Benue State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Nentawe
Yelwatda, said the 2019 elections witnessed 22 per cent increment of
voters’ participation in the elections.
Yelwatda also said that
there was a high level of rejected votes recorded by the commission and
urged the commission to step up its voter education.
He blamed
the supplementary elections on politicians in the state who refused to
play the game in accordance with the Electoral Act 2010 as amended and
Regulations and Guidelines for the 2019 elections.
He commended INEC’s permanent and ad-hoc staffers and security operatives for their contributions to the success of the polls.
Source:- Vanguardngr
Leave a Reply