From Mustapha Adamu, Kano
No fewer than 89 Civil Society Organizations, CSOs who were accredited as Election Observers have hailed the conduct of the Saturday’s Local Government elections in Kano State, saying the election was conducted in the interest of the citizens.
Leader of the organizations and Director of Grassroot Development and Peace Initiative, Comrade Victor Kalu while briefing newsmen on their interim report after monitoring the election, said the election was conducted in conformity with the judgment of the Supreme Court affirming the financial autonomy of the local government as anything short of this will led the state to forfeit it allocation.
According to Comrade Kalu, “the local government election is a very critical sector as it is closer to the public. And most importantly, the Supreme Court has ruled that any state that did not conduct local government election will be denied of its allocation. Therefore, the CSOs acknowledged that the Saturday’s LG elections was conducted for citizens interest and held in a peaceful atmosphere,” he said.
Comrade Kalu expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the election which he adjudged as peaceful and orderly manner despite absence of security.
The accredited Election Observers also applauded Governor Abba Yusuf for his resolute and for a successful conduct of the election to ensure good governance at the grassroots.
In a related development, the Civil Society Organizations, however, officially handed over their election report to the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC).
Receiving the report, the Chairman of KANSIEC, Prof. Sani Lawal Malumfashi, appreciated the CSOs and called on them to continue their good work of trying to sustain democracy in Nigeria.
“Your presence added so much value to on the just concluded local government elections. You came from near and far, all in attempt to consolidate grassroot democracy in the state and also across the country.
“We are not unaware of the fact that you contributed towards the success of the election. Please continue the struggle of entrenching democracy in Nigeria, one day it will be better for us in this country. You prevented strongly an attempt to truncate our activities by preventing the constitutional mandate,” Prof. Malumfashi however stated.
