The Centre for Constitutional (CCG) has urged Nigerians to make informed choices in the forthcoming 2019 general elections in Nigeria, to ensure that only forthright and credible leaders are voted into the various political positions nationwide.
In a press statement released by the organization, its Executive Director, Dr. Adewale Balogun stated that Nigerians had a wide range of choices within the array of intending contestants fielded by the various political parties.
According to him, there are a good number of candidates being fielded for the various positions by the different registered political parties in the country which should create no room for voters’ limitation to a few political parties as choices.
He went further to condemn votes buying and selling, especially as witnessed in the recently concluded Anambra, Ekiti and Osun State elections and even in the political party primaries.
“Vote buying obstructs the democratic process by interfering with the rights of citizens to freely decide who will represent them and their interests, ultimately, it undercuts citizens’ ability to hold their elected officials accountable after they must have bought themselves their mandates”, he said.
While also condemning the evidenced lack of transparency and internal democracy in the way and manner the political parties primaries were conducted, he called on INEC to improve in their efforts to ensure that the political parties and their candidates comply with laid down regulations in the Nigerian electoral laws on the electoral process such as the ones against the over-monetization of process and refusal of political parties and candidates to adhere to the stipulated campaigning time-frame as is already been witnessed.
He appealed to Nigerians, especially the youth to shun violence and work together to support credible candidates possessing vision, focus and a mentality that is totally disparate to the present politics of ‘business as usual’, its attendant greed and colossal pillaging that have sucked majority of the people into avoidable poverty, degradation and lack of say.