A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Monday, described the 2023 general elections as “credible in many substantial aspects”.
Recall that many Nigerians believed that the election was manipulated, while some gave kudos to the electoral body.
However, in a live interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Jega said his favourable assessment of the polls was not necessarily in defence of his successor and incumbent INEC chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood.
Jega said: “I would say that, in many substantial aspects, it was credible,” he said.
READ MORE: Probe Why Upload Of Presidential Poll Results To IReV Failed — Jega To INEC
“In areas where we have seen serious challenges that are avoidable and should have been avoided, I believe that to a large extent, and you asked me to be very frank with you, we have a tendency to heap blame on the leadership of an electoral management body and I have had my own fair share of those kinds of blames.”
“So, to my mind, really, it’s unfortunate it has happened on the watch of Yakubu Mahmood but it has happened not because, to my mind, I have no evidence that he is complicit in these things,” Jega added.
