EXTRA: Kogi electoral commission chair praises APC for ‘performing excellently’ in LG poll

Despite the expected neutrality of electoral umpires, Mamman Nda-Eri, chairperson of the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC), has praised the performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the LG poll.

On Saturday, KOSIEC organised elections in the 21 LGAs and 239 wards in the state.

Announcing the results in Lokoja, the state capital, Nda-Eri said the APC “performed excellently” by winning all the chairmanship and councillorship seats.

The KOSIEC chairman commended electoral and security officials for the peaceful exercise.

“APC performed excellently; it cleared all the chairmanship and councillorship positions, leaving nothing to the other 18 political parties that took part in the election,” NAN quoted Nda-Eri as saying.

“The results declared at the headquarters were earlier declared at the various collations centres by the respective returning officers.

“As chairman of KOSIEC, I hereby confirm the results earlier collated and returned by the returning officers.”

CRITICISM TRAILS LG POLL

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has described the Kogi LG election as a mockery of democracy, adding that there was no voting in the state on Saturday.

CNPP accused the APC of handpicking winners while using the election as a cover-up.

The conduct of LGA elections has brought state electoral commissions under scrutiny in recent months.

The ruling party in most states usually wins LGA elections by nearly 100 percent — a trend that has cast doubt on the credibility of state electoral commissions.

Many stakeholders have called for a constitutional amendment to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local government elections.