The lawmaker representing Etsako Federal Constituency, Hon. Sunday Anamero Dekeri, has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Federal Government for ensuring a peaceful governorship election in Edo State.
Dekeri, who cast his vote in Etsako East Ward 6, attributed the successful conduct to improvements made by INEC, according to Nigerian Tribune.
The lawmaker expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for creating an enabling environment for voters to exercise their franchise.
However, Dekeri highlighted some technical issues with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines, which were initially non-functional but later rectified.
He urged INEC to consider extending voting time to prevent disenfranchisement.
Dekeri called on candidates to accept the election results in a sporting manner, promoting peaceful resolution.
The Edo State governorship election has seen high stakes, with three major parties contesting.
INEC’s efforts to ensure a smooth process have included the Election Violence Mitigation and Advocacy Tool and PVC distribution.
“We thank God for the improvement the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has made on our Electoral processes.
” I want to salute the FG for creating an enabling environment for voters to exercise their franchise. As you can see, it has been very peaceful in my unit, the people turned out en masse to vote candidate of their choice.
“We are hopeful that the way it is, whoever emerged winner of the election, other candidates would accept the result in the spirit of sportsman.
“The turnout of voters is massive. I am impressed, except for the tilting problem of BIVAS, its election has been very slow.
” And more people are still struggling to cast their votes. All the same, it’s work in progress.
“We cannot get our democratic process perfected all of a sudden. Our people are happy voting candidates of their choice
“Initially, the BIVAS machines were not working at all. But they later came up after they were rectified. But, they are still slow
“I hope Inec will extend the voting time so as not to disenfranchise eligible voters. We have two units with about 900 registered voters, ” he said.
