Anambra election: NLC passes vote of no confidence on INEC

Leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has passed a vote of no confidence on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following alleged flaws during last Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
The congress, however, showered encomiums on Vice President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to join the league of ‘do-or-die’ members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by promptly congratulating Governor Peter Obi, the declared winner of the election, just as it called on the political elite to emulate his leadership virtue.
Abdulwaheed Omar, NLC president, who stated this in a statement issued in Abuja, expressed pessimism over the ability of INEC under the leadership of Maurice Iwu to conduct free and fair election on a national scale.
He said, “We must not, therefore, be carried away by the relative success recorded in the Anambra election because these noticeable flaws are fundamental to laying a strong foundation for the growth of democracy.
“Congress strongly believes that the Anambra election indicates that the current INEC leadership under Prof. Maurice Iwu is incapable of organising a proper free and fair election on a national scale. It is our belief that the relative success recorded in Anambra is because the election was an isolated one where over 45,000 personnel, which include INEC officials, security, election observers from civil society groups and international organisations.
“One wonders how INEC could cope with 36 states to conduct the elections of not only the president but governors, senators, House of Representatives members, etc all about the same time. INEC certainly needs to be repositioned with a competent and credible leadership before 2011 if we are to avert a worse disaster greater than what was experienced in 2007. This means that INEC under Prof. Iwu lacks the vision and the capacity to conduct a trouble-free election.”

Added: about 1 month ago (February 08, 2010 @ 07:21PM)
Source: Businessday Nigeria