A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), has faulted critics of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on conduct of the 2023 general elections, stating that verdicts of the courts were part of democracy.

The organisation stated that the move by some Nigerians to ‘de-legitimise’ institutions was a vile attack on democracy.

Addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, PAACA chairman, Ezenwa Nwagwu, while admitting that this year’s polls were not perfect, he, however, submitted that the positives outweighed others.

His words: “Election by itself is an emotional thing. But at the end of the day, we should be able to talk about what went well and did not. There are lessons we have learnt, but the big issue for me is that after the elections, the narrative has shifted from not just criticising the elections, but de-legitimising the elections and also de-legitimising the institutions that make competitive enterprise important.

“A lot of people are done with INEC. They have move to the judiciary. They are calling the judiciary a scam. That is for those who the judgment does not favour, but there is a difference between criticism and attack.”