The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kebbi, Abubakar Sarkin-Pawa-Danbo, has advised political parties participating in the by-elections and rerun to accept the outcome of the elections in good faith.

He gave the advice in an interview with journalists at Yauri in Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi on Saturday.

The commissioner was on an inspection tour of the election at Yauri/Shanga/Ngaski Federal Constituency.

Mr Sarkin-Pawa-Danbo said: “The contest is between brothers in view of the fact that they are all from the same constituency and all their ambition is to move the area to the next level of development.

“Therefore, I want to appeal to them to remain as one and respect each other’s interest in the progress of their area.

“I urge the politicians to bear in mind that only God Almighty gives and retrieves power to and from whom He pleases. So, there is no need for do-or-die to grab power,” he said.

The commissioner said that he was in Shanga Local Government for a similar inspection tour and the exercise was smooth, as there was no report of any hitches, adding that the exercise was also peaceful in Yauri.

“We thank God Almighty, everything is going on smoothly; our men were at different polling units very early, the election started as scheduled, and we have not received any complaints about a shortage of election materials from any polling unit because election officials were deployed in good time,” he said.

According to him, there is no need for anybody to reject the outcome, as long as the exercise is conducted peacefully and if really they need their area to progress.

On the performance of INEC officials on duty, the REC commended their zeal and determination to ensure a hitch-free exercise and appealed to them to sustain the tempo toward making it more credible.

Mr Sarkin-Pawa-Danbo also appealed to the electorate to call themselves to order.

“We are all Nigerians and we have no other country than it, as such, we have to do everything possible to protect our motherland.”

(NAN)