INEC Chairman expresses pleasure at presidential election results

monjola sotubo

April 22, 2015 12:37 PM

Jega explained that he was happy about the election results because they had produced a clear winner and hence precluded the option of a presidential run-off.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega has expressed pleasure at the outcome of the March 28 presidential elections.

The INEC Chairman made the statements on Tuesday, April 21 2015, during a dialogue session with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room in Abuja.

“I heaved a heavy sigh of relief when the election did not result to a run-off. That would have occasioned a big constitutional crisis,” Jega said.

“This is in view of the fact that the 1999 Constitution only made provision for seven days for such poll. You and I know that there was no way we would have been able to conduct a run-off within seven days. This is why I emphasise that amendments to the electoral laws should be done in good time. We could have further sanitised the electoral process if we had got some of the amendments we required in the Electoral Act,” he added.

The INEC Chairman also urged the incoming government of President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari not to wait till the 2019 general elections before reviewing the Electoral Act.

monjola sotubo