From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), has declared that there should be no excuse for poor performance in the forthcoming Edo and Ondo states governorship elections.
IPAC Chairman, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, made the declaration in his remarks at the quarterly meeting between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the leaders of the political parties in Abuja on Tuesday.
Dantalle maintained that vote selling and buying, thuggery, voters apathy and intimidation of electoral officials particularly to declare results under duress are still issues militating against the conduct of credible polls in Nigeria.
He further revealed that IPAC will set up a Constitution and Electoral Act Amendments Committee to appraise glaring irregularities in recent elections and make proposals to the National Assembly.
According to him; “The performance of opposition political parties in the 2023 elections was a welcome development and an expression of Nigerians’ faith and confidence in democracy.
“The lessons from the general election, off season governorship elections and rerun polls will give the commission and political parties yet another opportunity to review and reexamine the Constitution, Electoral Act, the guidelines and regulations for the conduct of elections, and make necessary amendments that will strengthen the electoral process and integrity of elections conducted. “Election is the beauty of democracy. The ballot is sacred and sacrosanct. It is our duty as political leaders to ensure the elections meet international best practices and also hold critical stakeholders accountable.
“Vote selling and buying, thuggery, voters apathy and intimidation of electoral officials particularly to declare results under duress are still issues militating against the conduct of credible polls in Nigeria.
“This leadership of IPAC will live up to its mandate to ensure an environment conducive for the conduct of successful elections. Accordingly, IPAC will set up a Constitution and Electoral Act Amendments Committee to review glaring irregularities in recent elections and make proposals to the National Assembly in its ongoing Constitution and Electoral Act amendments,” he said.
Explaining further, the IPAC boss noted: “In this regard, IPAC will be proactive to ensure that the Edo and Ondo states governorship elections meet the expectations of Nigerians and international community. There should be no excuse for poor performance.
“IPAC will constantly engage INEC and major stakeholders to ensure the success of these elections and will be there for mobilization of voters, sensitization and monitoring of polls.
IPAC commends the leadership of INEC for its performance so far, so much still needs to be done to improve the nation’s electoral process that will drastically reduce post-elections petitions and litigations.
“Just as Council will engage leaders of Political Parties on strict adherence to internal party democracy in the nomination of candidates for various elective offices which will in turn reduce pre- elections litigations.
“It is unfortunate that funds that should have been deployed to deepen party politics and structures in the country are spent on avoidable litigations that distracted, disorganized, disrupted and destabilized activities of most political parties and eventually change of leaderships,” he said.