Stop blaming INEC, watch politicians – Former INEC National Commissioner tells Nigerians
Former National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Festus Okoye has urged Nigerians to focus their blame on politicians.
Okoye said this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television's 'The Morning Brief'.
According to him, the electoral process relies mainly on local volunteers and not INEC staff to ensure credibility and transparency.
"Nigerians should not blame INEC but the politicians. So asking what is important, what is crucial, what is fundamental is for the country to keep on improving and also keep on deploying technology in our electoral process.
"But more importantly, I think the media, civil society groups, and organizations, and the Nigerian people generally must focus attention on the activities of the political elite before, during, and after the election.
"And I say this because we are talking about INEC as an organization. But the truth of the matter is that at the level of the polling unit, you will not see an INEC officially paid staff.
"Those you are going to see at the level of the polling unit are Nigerians and corps members serving as Presiding Officers and also serving as Assistant Presiding Officers. These are the people who do the result upload," he said.
Stop blaming INEC, watch politicians – Former INEC National Commissioner tells Nigerians