Governor David Umahi on Tuesday received his Certificate of Return for a second term as Governor of Ebonyi State from the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Speaking shortly after receiving the certificate from the Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of the State, Prof. Goodwill Obioma, at the INEC headquarters, Abakaliki, Umahi dedicated the certificate to his family, his deputy and most importantly to all those who lost their lives in one way or the other during the elections across the country.
He commended the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, as a patriotic public servant who meant well for the country in positioning he commission as an unbiased umpire in spite of few shortcomings.
He also commended the management and staff INEC in Ebonyi State, describing Obioma as a righteous, unbiased man who neither worked in favour nor against any political party.
While he advocated for full adoption of electronic voting method in Nigeria’s electoral process, Umahi called on NEC officials to change their “style of invisibility” and freely interact with stakeholders to douse tensions that often accompany electioneering activities.
Umahi further called on the National Assembly to amend the electoral laws in such a way that States would be allowed inputs into the document so as to truly reflect the wishes of the people, which, according to him, would go a long way in drastically reducing the rate of killings during elections.
He however, vowed to prosecute all offenders of the electoral laws and perpetrators of violence in the State
Obioma, earlier in his remarks, described Umahi’s election as the peak of democratic experience in the State, where the people voluntarily elected their leader without undue interference.
He noted that the free and fair nature of the election was a reflection of his assurance from the inception of his stewardship in the State to be fair and objectives to all and sundries.
He urged the Governor not to relent in the very obvious good works which has earned him the people’s return mandate.
The event was attended by members of the State Executive Council, some traditional rulers, parties stalwarts in the State as well as Civil Society Organisations.