Gender Election Watch calls for arrest, prosecution of electoral offenders
By Taiye Agbaje
The Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF)’s Gender and Election Watch (GEW), Room, on Tuesday, called for the arrest and prosecution of electoral offenders in the just-concluded governorship and state assembly elections.
The GEW observer group, in a post-election press statement signed by Mufuliat Fijabi, the Chief Executive Officer of NWTF, also called on INEC to hold its partners in the planning and conduct of elections accountable for failure to deliver on their agreement.
“The incitement of violence, disruption of polls and burning of poll materials is unacceptable.
“GEW calls for more accountability, arrest, and prosecution of electoral offenders,” it said.
It also called on the security agencies to do more to maintain peace and protect the lives of all in an election process.
According to the group, hitch-free, peaceful, and successful election is a product of improved security operations management.
GEW said it reported low turnout of both men and women in the Saturday elections as most voters stayed away from the polling units because of the perceived atmosphere of insecurity.
“In some states, NWTF GEW observed that women turnout was lower compared to the already low turnout recorded in the last presidential election,” it said.
It, however, commended INEC on the level of preparedness and conduct of polls.
“There was significant improvement with regards to logistics and opening of polls,” GEW said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team, which deployed 350 accredited observers across seven states in the six geo-political zones, monitored the elections from gender perspective.
The states included Adamawa, Kano, Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Anambra and Kogi.
