From Godwin Tsa, Abuja.
National Commandant of Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN), Dickson Akoh, has said, to ensure good governance in the 2023 political dispensation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should hold elected politicians accountable to Nigerians through their parties’ manifestoes.
The commission was specifically charged to document manifestoes of all parties and use the same to effect checks and balances on leaders that would emerge in the next year elections.
Akoh, who threw the challenge, said INEC should not limit itself to conduct of elections alone but must be in the forefront of doing follow ups that would make politicians abide and implement their manifestoes to the people.
The PCN boss, who spoke in Abuja at the just concluded public forum to commemorate Nigeria’s 62nd Independence Day, canvassed that the electoral body should be in a legal position to sanction politicians or political parties that fail accountability in the implementation of manifestoes.
He sought legal back up for INEC to have power to disqualify individuals and parties from subsequent elections upon being found liable of failure to adhere and implement promises made during electioneering.
According to him, “time has come for leaders to be made responsible through their actions. Holding elected leaders by their words and sanctioned when failed would herald positive responses to governance in the country.
“Time has come for us, as a nation, to have well tailored manifestoes and I challenge INEC to document the promises being made by politicians, those who fail to keep to their freely made promises must be sanctioned before subsequent elections for the country to forge ahead in socio-economic development.”