"If INEC gets it right, Nigeria will get it right," the NLC president said.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed worry over incidents of violence in some polling units and areas where activities of thugs disrupted elections in Saturday's general election.
Joe Ajaero, the NLC president, said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
"The experiences of yesterday ought to have prepared INEC to conduct a better election this year," the statement said.
"We had hoped that voting materials would reach their destinations on time so that the various time frames would be strictly adhered to preventing the disenfranchisement of potential voters.
"Report reaching us paints a rather frightening picture that in many areas around the country, as late as noon; voting materials were yet to get to the polling units. We are worried about the reports of manifest incidences of violence in some polling units and areas where activities of thugs are pronounced (sic) even in the presence of security agencies."
The NLC president also said that INEC ought to ensure that voters perform their rights in secrecy to avoid exposing them to violence, adding that the sanctity of the ballot must be protected.
Mr Ajaero also said guidelines for voting must be followed to protect the rights of voters at the polling units and guarantee that their choices remain private.
According to him, INEC must deal with voter suppression and cases of ballot box snatching that were recorded in some parts of the country on Saturday.
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"If voters are beaten at the Polling Units, the signal to other voters is to stay at home and not vote. This disenfranchises and is undemocratic and thus unacceptable.
"It is important that INEC understands that this election is also a referendum on its capacity to conduct free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
"It should not, therefore, fail itself and Nigerians again but prove wrong those who have come to believe that it would be difficult for INEC to raise the bar in election conducts in Nigeria," he stated.
Mr Ajaero said there was no other institution that would be held responsible except INEC if it failed to live up to the expectations of Nigerians. He added that given the huge resources invested in it, the pivotal nature of this election and the enormous time they had in preparing for this cycle, much needed to be done to ensure a free and fair election.
He said the commission's experiences in election conduct must be brought to bear in this exercise to make it successful.
"Their monitoring mechanism must swing into action and correct what is already being observed to avert what we are already observing in the field.
"If INEC gets it right, Nigeria will get it right. This election offers us such hope and INEC is at the centre of this hope," he said.
