Some political parties in Kwara have commended the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kwara State, Malam Garba Attahiru-Madami, for his neutrality and partiality in the conduct of his electoral duties.
Representatives of the political parties made the commendation in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday during the distribution of election materials at the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria in Ilorin.
The Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, Oladimeji Mustapha, lauded the REC for giving all political parties a level playing ground.
Mustapha also commended him for inviting representatives of political parties to witness the distribution of sensitive election materials to the 16 local government areas in the state.
According to him, Attahiru-Madami has been transparent in his actions, particularly as regards distribution of election materials.
He said: “The REC has been transparent and open because details of all the materials being distributed are given to us to know the number of ballot papers allocated to each local government and ward.”
Mustapha, however, scored INEC 85 per cent in the conduct of the February 23 Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.
The APC Legal Adviser, therefore, called on the REC to improve on the performance of the Card Readers to make the Saturday’s election more credible and acceptable.
He said the Independent National Electoral Commission should provide back-up for the card readers in all the polling units in the state.
The representative of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olatunji Gabriel, said the REC had been neutral and very open to everybody.
“So far so good, the Resident Electoral Commissioner has been very transparent and open in the discharge of his duties and dealing with political parties,” he said.
According to Gabriel, immediately the sensitive materials were delivered, the REC called all political parties to send representatives to come and witness the distribution.
He said: “I can confirm to you that the electoral materials are intact and arrived early than the February 23 elections.
“He has been neutral and impartial in the sense that all the documents that back the INEC materials are given to all political parties.”
The State Secretary of Action Democratic Congress, Ojolowo Tajudeen, said: “If Kwara has had a man like Attahiru-Madami as head of INEC since 2003, people’s vote could have counted.
“I have never seen a REC like Malam Garba since I have been in Kwara.
“He works with honesty, integrity and neutrality.
“In fact, we want people like him in government.
“He is a carbon copy of President Muhammadu Buhari in integrity and honesty.”
Tajudeen said the REC has demonstrated his transparency and openness in the way he conducted the distribution of election materials in the open glare of every stakeholders.
He said: “He gave us all the documents that accompanied the electoral materials from Abuja to demonstrate his openness, neutrality and impartiality.
“The REC has done more than giving political parties level playing ground.
“He is a man of impeccable integrity.”
Tajudeen, therefore, called on all other Resident Electoral Commissioners in the country to learn from Attahiru-Madami’s honesty, integrity and impartiality in dealing with political parties.
NAN.
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