Councillors slam foreign observers over A’Ibom election report

Conference of Akwa Ibom State Councillors has condemned European Observer Mission, EOM, over its report on the conduct of elections in the state.
The EOM had listed Akwa Ibom amongst other states as areas where violence and electoral malpractices marred the conduct of peaceful and credible elections and called for further investigation.
In a 10-point communiqué issued at the end of its meeting in Uyo and made available to Nigerian Pilot yesterday, the councillors representing the 329 wards in the state maintained that the minor incidences of violence in few locations in the state did not warrant a blanket classification by the EOM team.
The communiqué endorsed by the conference chairman, Honourable Charles Bassey, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the conduct of credible and fair elections in the April 11, 2015, governorship and House of Assembly polls in the state.
The councilors, who commended voters in the state for their massive turnout for the exercise, also scored the security agencies high for ensuring a peaceful and orderly ambience for the elections to hold across the various polling units and wards in the state.
It said that the result declared by INEC was a true reflection of the wishes of the electorate in the state and described as embarrassing and disgusting, “attempts by those candidates and parties who lost in the election to breach the peace by crying wolf where there is none,” and urged them to rather “emulate President Goodluck Jonathan by conceding defeat in good faith.
“The conference also calls on winners in the election to run an all inclusive government by extending a hand of fellowship to their fellow contestants while advising those candidates and political parties who feel dissatisfied with the outcome of the elections to seek redress within the ambit of the law.”