INEC may cancel election in violence affected areas; ...investigates violent polls in Rivers, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom, Abia and Ondo

The Independent National Electoral Commission in Nigeria (INEC) has warned that it may have no other option but to cancel results in some areas where the state returning officer recorded violence.

The spokesman for the INEC chairman, Mr Kayode Idowu, said the commission had recorded reports of electoral violence in some places and would deal with it appropriately.
“We have received reports of incidents of Security breaches in some areas, particularly in Rivers State, but security agents have been on top of their game and we have been able to also conduct elections in those hot spots.

“There are areas where you have incidents of violence. Generally speaking, the election went on across the country.

“There are report of breaches of the peace in Abia State. There are challenges to the peace in many of the areas,” Mr Idowu said, confirming reports of violence in some areas.
Reports of violence in Abia, Akwa Ibom and Rivers State, have led to calls for cancelation of election results in some of the places where violence was recorded. But Mr Idowu said that the Returning Officer reserved the right to decide if the elections in the areas would be canceled.

INEC statement: ‎

"Overall, many parts of the country remained relatively peaceful during the elections. Some states, however, recorded a significant number of violent incidents, the most affected being Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ebonyi and Ondo States.

"INEC’s records show that there were 66 reports of violent incidents targeted at polling units, the Commission’s officials, voters and election materials. These were in Rivers State (16 incidents), Ondo (8), Cross River and Ebonyi (6 each), Akwa Ibom (5) Bayelsa (4), Lagos and Kaduna (3 each), Jigawa, Enugu, Ekiti and Osun (2 each), Katsina, Plateau, Kogi, Abia, Imo, Kano and Ogun (1 each).

"The Commission is investigating these incidents and will do everything within in its powers to bring culprits to justice."
Credit: Channels/ThisDay

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