Nigerians can vote out underperforming elected leaders: INEC

The INEC official said it was unproductive and irresponsible to stay indoors during elections after criticising an under-performing politician.



Gabriel Yomere, the resident electoral commissioner in Cross River, says Nigerians reserve the right to vote out underperforming political leaders.

Mr Yomere stated this at Friday’s second quarter consultative meeting of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and leaders of civil society organisations in Calabar.

He said that Nigerians should refuse to accept the notion that every politician must serve two terms irrespective of their performance.

The INEC official said it was unproductive and irresponsible to stay indoors during elections after criticising an under-performing politician.

“After assuming duty as the REC in Cross River in 2022, I went through the records and saw that the 2019 election turnout was extremely poor. I became very worried and decided to do something about it. But after the 2023 election, the outcome remained poor,” he said.

Mr Yomere said that one reason for meeting with civil society organisations was to seek their support for citizens’ participation in the electoral process.

“Civil society organisations are critical stakeholders in the electoral process. They need to work with INEC and security agencies to achieve results,” he said.

The REC, who said that the Continuous Voter Registration exercise would soon commence, urged civil society groups to participate in mobilising residents.

Nsikak Ikpeme, the chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (Calabar chapter), said that the 2023 governorship election in Cross River witnessed apathy because the electorate was dissatisfied with the electoral process.

Mr Ikpeme said that INEC should be willing to adopt technology to ensure a credible electoral process, saying, “This will rebuild confidence and trust in the system.”

Abdulkadir Ibrahim, NASFAT commissioner in Cross River, commended INEC for the meeting and appealed for such meetings to be held more frequently.

Julie Agbor, the president of the National Council of Women Society, urged the commission to involve more women groups in its activities to deepen grassroots mobilisation.

Quest7777:

Not when INEC compromises the voting process.
Many Nigerians sacrificed so much to get their PVCs expecting a transparent voting process with BVAS, only for INEC to come up with excuses on non performance and failure of the e-voting system on the last Presidential Elections day.

lastmessenger:
We came and we voted but you switched off the bvas and announced result when men were sleeping and here we are with tinubulation

JagabanB:

INEC didn't promise you e-voting system.
Some of you just wake and type garbage.

JagabanB:

INEC didn't promise you e-voting system.
Some of you just wake and type garbage.

Bobloco:


True, INEC didn't promise e-voting, but they did promise to ensure that election results would be transmitted in real time to the IREV portal on election day, which it failed to do for obvious reasons, and in the end, it greatly affected the credibility of that election. 

EbinPawaGovt:
/

Justifying youe zombieee pay?

JagabanB:

It didn't affect the credibility of the elections, you are all using it as an excuse for ur loss.
INEC has been saying since the Osun elections that their server was being attacked, during election, it's same thing, u folks were depending on cyber bandits to jeopardize elections, below is the picture.

Bobloco:


I hope you are enjoying your wins

JagabanB:

It didn't affect the credibility of the elections, you are all using it as an excuse for ur loss.
INEC has been saying since the Osun elections that their server was being attacked, during election, it's same thing, u folks were depending on cyber bandits to jeopardize elections, below is the picture.

JagabanB:

Bring Obi against Tinubu in 2027, I will choose Tinubu without blinking.
And he will win without stress.
You can't white wash a faiIed governor overnight.

Bobloco:


You can vote him a hundred times

I hope you are enjoying your win

mairogo:

Do you people read what you write before posting? How does it make you feel knowing that you're covering up the truth?

The question INEC has refused to answer is why IREV deployed for the elections worked for the National Assembly but failed for the presidential election. What's technical glitch which INEC blamed for their deliberate sabotage of the election?

You can vote Tinubu if you like, it's your right but reinforcing failure isn't the mark of an intelligent person.