International Police Chaplains for Sustainable Development and Law Enforcement, IPCSL has given its preliminary statement on the 2023 general election observation.
The mission congratulated the Nigerian people, the Federal Government, political actors and all stakeholders, urging them to continue to work together towards the peace of the nation.
The 2023 Presidential Election has produced a winner after a closely and keenly contested exercise.
But the conduct of the election was criticised by some political parties especially the electronic transmission of results
In spite of this, the IPCSL commended the electoral process of the 2023 General Election held on Saturday, February 25.
The Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday morning, announced the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu as the President-elect.
Leader of the mission Ambassador Johaness Makouvia, says their focus on the field was to assess the credibility of the election.
The IPCSL deployed 178 observers on Election Day and visited 2,297 polling stations throughout the country, but did not observe the collation of results
The mission advised political actors to use the legal channel to address further issues while encouraging civil societies to continue with civic education and citizen awareness.
Presenting the preliminary report on the election, the Head of IPCSL Mission, Col. Johaness Makouvia, described the exercise as peaceful.
Makouvia said the process conformed with the international standard, adding that the discreet presence of the security forces in most of the polling centers allowed for the peaceful conduct of the voting process.
According to him, electoral law stipulates that voting is secret and that each polling station has at least one voting booth, saying the mission observed compliance with this provision in the polling stations visited.
He added that it helped to guarantee the secrecy of the vote, adding that voting in the polling stations observed, was well attended in the morning, but the pace slowed in the afternoon.
