South East Good Governance Project (SEGFOP), a coalition of South East Civil Society Organizations, has commended the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) for the successful conduct of Local Government Elections in the state on Saturday, 21st September, 2024.
In its report, SEGGOP, which also monitored the Saturday September 21 election across the state, however, stressed the need for improvement by the electoral commission, especially regarding logistics.
The Report reads:
The South East Good Governance Project (SEGGOP), a coalition of Civil Society Organizations in the South East, monitored the Enugu State Local Government Election as an observer accredited by the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) and observed as follows:
- SECURITY: The election was violence-free, with no report of violence from our observers across the 17 LGAs of Enugu State. There was an impressive mobilization of security agencies across the state and the security agents conducted themselves professionally.
- VOTER TURNOUT: The voter turnout varied from place to place, with moderate to high voter turnout recorded across the state.
- POLITICAL PARTIES PARTICIPATION: Across the state, the major political parties and contenders conducted themselves with some decorum. It was, however, observed that a political actor in Uzo Uwani LGA announced a purported result of councillorship election in Abbi Ward, thereby usurping the powers of ENSIEC. We condemn this in its entirety.
- AD-HOC STAFF: We observed that some of the ad-hoc staff were not properly trained. However, it did not impact on the integrity of the electoral process since such cases were not substantial.
- LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES: There observed logistical challenges, which resulted in election materials and personnel arriving behind schedule at many polling units, while there were reported shortage of materials in some wards.
Following from the above, therefore, SEGGOP urges ENSIEC to adopt early commencement of training for its ad hoc staff in future elections to ensure that they have adequate trainings. This will help to reduce human errors on Election Day to the barest minimum, if not outrightly eliminated.
ENSIEC is also advised to review its logistical arrangements to help to eliminate the late arrival and inadequacy of materials witnessed in some places.
In all, it is noteworthy that none of these observed challenges could substantially detract from the integrity and outcome of the election.
With election now over, SEGGOP urges the Enugu Civil Society community to mobilize the citizenry to ensure that the incoming chairmen and councillors are held accountable. With Local Government Autonomy now a reality, the incoming chairmen have no excuse for not delivering on their mandates, as the tier of Government closest to the masses.
Signed:
Mazi Ikechukwu Bismarck Oji,MNSE, COREN
(Convener)
Comrade Emmanuel Ibekwe N.
(Head, Enugu State LG Elections Monitoring Team)
Author: Maureen Ikpeama