Samson Itodo, ED YIAGA

The Executive Director, Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth, and Advancement (YIAGA), Samson Itodo, has alleged that military personnel chased observers and some party agents out of the collation centers in some states.

Mr. Itodo who was as a guest on Channels Television’s special programme on the 2019 elections, The Verdict, said the action went contrary to the promise made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve on the presidential election.

He listed the affected states as Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Zamfara.“Yesterday, during the collation process in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Zamfara, military men literally chased observers and some party agents out of the collation centers when the results came in from the polling units,” he stated.

According to him, the alleged lack of transparency of the results collation process threatens the integrity of the election results that will come from those particular locations.

He explained that YIAGA’s observers were closely monitoring the collation process in 642 local government areas in the 29 states where the elections held.

Mr. Itodo also accused some ruling political parties of using state-controlled institutions to manipulate the nation’s electoral process.

“You could see that the military was deliberate in disrupting the process. They were there hijacking the election materials, in some cases intimidating some polling officials and that is really unacceptable,” he added.