Kwara Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Aniedi Ikoiwak, has said that only collaborative support of Nigerians with INEC can make 2011 elections credible.

Kwara Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Aniedi Ikoiwak,  has said that only collaborative support of Nigerians with INEC can make 2011 elections credible.

   Ikoiwak admitted deficiencies on the part of the electoral body in conducting previous elections, but added that it was not “deliberate”.

Ikoiwak, who resumed recently as the Kwara REC, said this in Ilorin on Thursday, when he paid a courtesy visit to the Kwara Office of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

‘‘Nigerians are in a hurry to have credible elections that will be acceptable to all, but INEC alone cannot do it.

“For us to have free and fair elections, which we are all yearning for, INEC needs the support and cooperation of every stakeholder.

“INEC’s deficiency in the past elections is not deliberate, but we shall correct and improve on our past mistakes,” he said.

Ikoiwak said that as part of measures to ensure hitch-free polls, INEC would resolve all ‘grey areas and criticisms’ associated with the voters register.

He said that the electronic voters register introduced at the last polls was manipulated through the connivance of some INEC permanent and ad hoc staff with politicians.

“We decided to opt for the electronic voters register to checkmate malpractices, but unfortunately, some of our ad hoc staff and even permanent staff, connived with the politicians to circumvent the efforts,’’ the commissioner alleged.

This, the resident electoral commissioner said, led to the appearance of unidentified faces and names on the register.

Ikoiwak, however, said the commission had identified 153 polling units in 15 Local Government Areas of Kwara where data had been deleted from the commission’s record.

He said the commission would soon embark on process to recapture the voters in the affected units.