A civil society organisation, the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement

( YIAGA ) Africa, has said there will be no run-off in the presidential election, adding that a clear winner will emerge.

In a statement on Monday on voter turnout and results, the group, which undertook the Watching The Vote (WTV) project, said no candidate will receive over 55 per cent of the votes.

YIAGA Africa has as its technical partners the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the US-based National Democratic Institute.

It deployed 3,906 observers throughout the country including 3,030 Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) observers deployed in pairs to a random, representative statistical sample of 1,515 polling units where they remained throughout the day.

“With this methodology, YIAGA Africa is able independently verify the accuracy of the official presidential election results announced by INEC,” the group said.

In the statement by WTV Working Group Chair Dr. Hussaini Abdu and YIAGA Africa Executive Director Samson Itodo, YIAGA added: “Although YIAGA Africa currently has a stable estimated range for the election outcome, it is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that has the mandate to announce results.

“However, based on currently received observer reports, there will be no run-off for the Presidential elections because a clear winner will emerge. YIAGA AFRICA’s PVT shows that no candidate will receive more than 55 per cent of the vote share.”

YIAGA Africa said preliminary estimates indicate that turnout for Saturday’s presidential elections should be between 36 per cent and 40 per cent based on official turnout figures collected from the PVT’s representative statistical sample of polling units across the 774 LGAs in the country.

“If INEC’s official turnout falls within WTV’s estimated range then it accurately reflects the ballots cast at polling units.

“Only INEC has the legal mandate to announce the election results and return a candidate as a winner.”

The group added: “We urge all stakeholders to respect the commission’s constitutional power and refrain from declaring election results. YIAGA Africa enjoins citizens to remain calm and maintain the peace as INEC collates the results.

“YIAGA Africa continues to monitor the results collation until the final completion.

“As soon as INEC announces the official results, YIAGA Africa will convene a press conference to share its own statement on the accuracy of the election results.”

•Sourced from The Nation report

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