From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The Chairman, Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC), Barr. Richard Tombowua, has stated that they followed the guidelines and timeline strictly in conducting the recent local government polls in the state.
Recall that the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) was declared winner in all 23 local government areas of the state after the October 5 local government elections, a result the opposition PDP kicked against.
Speaking in his office in Makurdi on Tuesday while receiving an award titled “Defender of Democracy” from Radio Benue Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, Tombowua said the commission carried out a transparent process before and after the election.
He insisted that they conducted the election within the given time frame in spite of several pressures from some stakeholders to postpone it.
He also dismissed claims that there was an external influence on the commission and that nobody interfered in the conduct of the election.
He said, “People who were not at home during and after the election are the ones alleging that there was no election. We followed due diligence in the conduct of the election, ensuring that all results were collated before the declaration of the final result.
“When the Governor appointed us to conduct this election, little did we know that certain persons, like the media, were watching us. The media is a very critical stakeholder. We did a transparent process involving all the stakeholders.
“We jealously followed the timeline amidst calls for postponement. BSIEC remains independent at all times. We will continue to do our best, and the award will spur us to do more.”
Earlier, the Chairman of NUJ, Radio Benue Chapel, Comrade Paul Mandeun, said they are awarding the chairman for the superlative conduct of LG elections after three resumptions of office.
Mandeun said it was also a remarkable celebration of outstanding performance by the umpire body under the supervision of a legal luminary who has justified and proven his worth to the outside world.
“We are here to inform you that we have watched keenly all your electoral processes, beginning with your stakeholder’s engagement, the release of timetables and guidelines, regulation of political parties, recruitment and training of ad hoc staff used in the election, and distribution of sensitive and nonsensitive materials.
“The Union is here today to affirm and pass its verdict after monitoring all the processes before, during, and after the LG elections that you were not found wanting and also not short of best practices anywhere in the world.
“On this basis, we authoritatively pass a vote of confidence on you for living far above board in conducting an election that is a model for other emerging democracies to emulate.
It is on the same note that we confer the highest award of the Defender of Democracy in Our Generation.