Jega
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, says the the electoral body proved some ‘doomsday prophets’ wrong with the conduct of the general elections, which was believed to be fair, credible and peaceful.
The INEC boss expressed disappointment with some international media outfits who had predicted that Nigeria would split after the 2015 general elections.
The INEC chairman made the declaration yesterday when he received a delegation led by the Ambassador of Mexico in Nigeria, Marco Antonio Garcia Blanco, at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja
He said “We are indeed very happy that our elections turned out to be well and to have been recognised both nationally and internationally as free, fair, credible and also peaceful. Leading to the election, some impressions had been created, particularly in the international media as if this may be the end of our country. Thank God it was doomsday prediction which turned out to be false”.
He further explained that though the 2015 elections, were not perfect, they were much better than that of 2011 and admitted that there was room for improvement.
The INEC chairman said: “We know that the election has not been perfect; we know that it was better than 2011; but there is also a lot of scope for improvement and that is why we welcome every opportunity to visit other countries and to see how they do their own elections and to be able to exchange ideas and to also learn good practices which we can continue to adapt to our own circumstances for continuous improvement of our own electoral process”.
He further thanked the Mexican High Commission for its support before, during and after the election.
“You facilitated the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding which has been very useful, many of our staff have benefited by participation in some conferences. All these experiences have been useful and beneficial and we cherish the opportunity,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Ambassador Marco Antonio Garcia Blanco said his mission to the Commission was to “transmit congratulatory message for a great job that the Commission did in the last electoral process.”
He said everybody recognised the key role played by the Commission in the successes achieved in the last electoral process.
He said, “Your expertise knowledge and wisdom will be a great asset to our electoral body, with experience sharing, Mexico will benefit a lot”.
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