By Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado Ekiti
United Kingdom based chieftain of the People's Democratic party PDP in Ekiti State, Hon. Opeyemi Falegan, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be neutral and unbiased before, during and after Saturday's governorship election in Ekiti State to further strengthen Nigerian electoral system.
Falegan said that free, fair and credible poll on Saturday would not only strengthen the country's electoral system as a nation, but also be a great pointer towards the conduct of 2019 general elections in the country.
In a statement made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, Falegan said: "It is only free, fair and credible poll, devoid of any form of malpractice that can be acceptable to all parties. The best way to achieve this is for the electoral body to be neutral and seen as such by all. The bulk of the job depends on the INEC attitude and position before, during and after the poll.
"Though some Nigerian politicians are still finding it so difficult to change from uncivilised practice of electoral fraud which has become obsolete globally, hence always trying to influence INEC. But the coming election must be a clear departure from such development in order to allow peace to reign in the state.
"The electoral body must be up and doing at discharging its duties and be ready to step on toes of politicians if it is determined to conduct a free, fair and credible poll that can further strengthen our democracy.
"It is high time, we learned how to do things in a more civilised ways rather than other way round that has always portrayed Nigeria as an unserious and fraudulent nation because of the actions of few unpatriotic elements in the country," the PDP chieftain said.
According to him, the major challenge in Nigeria today is bad governance as a result of electing bad leaders, most times through fraudulent elections.
He said: "Therefore, there must be proper monitoring of all electioneering process to guarantee free, fair and credible poll that will translate to good governance.
"Therefore, INEC must always upgrade its facillities to meet best practices in order to frustrate every attempt being made by agents of darkness in the country who may want to rubbish its duties to satisfy their selfish end.
"The task of giving the country a perfect and acceptable electoral system is a joint one by all and sundry including the electorate, therefore all hands must be on deck to achieve this for the betterment of the people and society through enthronement of good governance in every party of Nigeria," he stated.
Falegan, however, urged all candidates in Saturday's poll to call on their supporters and advise them on the need to allow peace to reign through their conduct, statement and action before, during and after the exercise.
This, he said, "is the only way to a peaceful society and any form of vituperation and vulgarism must be avoided by all and sundry, since the campaign is almost over now. People should go to the poll with peace of mind and accept the result in a sportsmanship manner.
"Every election is for winner and losers, it is through this orientation and believe that candidates and supporters must operate and avoid being too desperate and believe that they need to win at all cost. A loser today can be a winner tomorrow and vice versa, Falegan said.
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