Collins Nnabuife – Abuja
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has backed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the postponement of the Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly Elections.
Recall that INEC had announced the postponement of the Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly Elections from 11th March to 18th March this year.
IPAC National Chairman, Yabagi Sani while addressing journalists on Thursday, said adequate time is needed to ensure things are properly done.
He said it is obvious that the integrity, credibility, acceptability and transparency of the electoral process and the elections are essential for an enduring democracy.
“As a major stakeholder in the political process, IPAC has always urged the electoral umpire to ensure it starts early preparation for elections and seek more time, if necessary to ensure it conducts hitch-free, credible, inclusive and generally acceptable polls as Nigerians will not tolerate any excuse for poor performance as witnessed in the failure to upload results from Polling Units to the INEC Results Viewing Portal(IReV) in real time which led to the ongoing litigations in court by aggrieved political parties and their candidates and the postponement of the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
“It is indeed, a difficult time for all lovers of democratic governance in Nigeria and calls for understanding and maximum support to INEC to discharge the crucial national duty that will redefine the destiny of the nation.
“IPAC urges all stakeholders in the electoral process, to please bear with the commission as it puts its act together for the March 18, 2023 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections. With the assurance that BVAS will function properly and results upload to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) in real-time, Nigerians and the international community expect free, fair, credible, transparent, inclusive and peaceful gubernatorial and legislative elections,” he said.
Sani urged INEC the Commission to justify the confidence Nigerians reposed in it and improve on its performance in the disputed Presidential and National Assembly polls.
The Council also urged the security agents to sit up and be alive to their constitutional mandate to secure lives and property before, during and after elections so as to avert the violence and other security breach witnessed during the presidential election.
“Council further urges Nigerians to come out en masse and vote for their preferred political parties, and ensure their votes count in the overall results.
“The ballot is sacrosanct, the will and mandate of the people freely given to a political party must be respected. This is the beauty of election and representative governance. Any attempt to manipulate the upcoming elections must be resisted. The era of vote buying and other irregularities that marred previous polls is over,” he added.
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