2019: INEC must live up to expectation —Gboyega Isiaka

A governorship hopeful in Ogun State, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to meet up with the expectations of Nigerians by justifying the confidence reposed in them in the 2019 general elections.

Isiaka, a three-time governorship candidate in Ogun State, was speaking against the backdrop of allegation that people who are not of voting age participated in the local government election held recently in Kano State, during the inauguration of The Believe Movement Constituency managers under Remo Federal Constituency, in Sagamu, on Thursday.

The former Group Managing Director of Gateway Holdings Limited noted that the electoral body is one of the institutions needed for virile democracy in the country.

“INEC is one of our institutions that we need for a very virile democracy. I will urge INEC to meet expectations. What we saw in the local government election that was held in Kano recently is nothing to write home about and I wish and pray that this is not repeated in the general election that is coming in 2019.

“INEC really has a lot to do to give people the confidence that there is power in the ballot by ensuring that people that should not vote, for instance the underage, are not allowed to vote for whatever reasons.

“The electronic voting system, for instance, needs to be updated so that it can meet up with the people’s expectation. So, for me, Nigerians have come together to embrace democracy. When we have even the performance of the government that people are not happy about, we did not have people saying no to democracy.  What they were coming up with is the movement. That, to me, is a plus to democracy.

“For this to continue, we need to have our institutions, particularly INEC, to live up to expectation so that people can have confidence more in our democracy,” he said.

He stated that The Believe Movement, a sociopolitical group, is about good governance by way of educating and enlightening the electorate of their roles in nation building.

GNI said, “It is just an awareness for people around here; it is just one of the objectives of the Believe Movement.

“We just felt that we need to enlighten our people very well and people need to participate more in politics, we need to support good governance. When you look at the reason and rationale for setting up these other movements, for instance the NIM and CNM, we align fully with the principles setting them up because that was the reason why The Believe Movement was set up over a year ago.”