BY VICTOR  AHIUMA-YOUNGL

AGOS – TRADE Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, has expressed concern over the high rate of invalid votes recorded in the National Assembly and Presidential elections, saying it was due to lack of voter’s education and enlightenment.

The umbrella body for senior staff association lamented that “going by statistics released by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Returning Officers from the states while announcing the results of the last two elections, over 1.2 million voters wasted their votes due to their inability to interpret properly how and where to thump print. 

The statement by TUC’s President-General and Secretary-General Mr Peter Esele and Chief John Kolawole, respectively, blamed the electoral wastage on  the INEC and other agencies such as the Ministry of Information, the National Orientation Agency and registered political parties in the country.

Liberties Organisation, CLO, has condemned the destruction of lives and property by demonstrators in some northern states and called on the security agencies, state governments and the Federal Government to be on top of the situation and ensure that the crises do not escalate.

CLO’s Executive Director, Mr Ibuchukwu Ezike, in a statement in Lagos, said,  “we detests the use of violence to settle political grievances or scores even when there are established institutions where electoral disputes could be heard and amicably resolved.

“We also want all those who sponsored these unwarranted crises to be arrested and duly prosecuted in accordance with the law to serve as deterrent to future sponsors and perpetrators of such crisis,” he added.