The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has frowned at what it
\ndescribed as \u201ca disappointing decimation of principles of democratic
\nelections\u201d after the 2019 general elections.<\/p>\n
In a statement signed by the CNPP Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu,
\nthe Conference urged \u201cthe judiciary to live up to its responsibility of
\nensuring stability at a time of electoral chaos deliberately orchestrated
\npoliticians in their greed for power for the purpose of selfish allocation
\nof the people\u2019s commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the CNPP, \u201cEvery election year in Nigeria, we have always
\nreturned to the same thing, a major violation of essential elements of
\ndemocratic elections. Even though the electoral umpire, the Independent
\nNational Electoral Comission (INEC), manages to make available a
\nrelatively accurate voters register and delineates the polling units, when
\nit comes to ensuring that the ballots counted reflect the votes cast as
\nthe sovereign will of the people, we fail.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the assurances by the electoral umpire, we were hopeful that the
\ncountry has overcome the crude way vote counting was made and validated in
\nthe time past but it was not to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cEqual accessibility to voting processes by political parties, candidates,
\nand the public, either as witnesses or observers, met arbitrary barriers
\nby security institutions and political thugs as they became the main
\nimpediments to a credible electoral process in the country in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe security agencies, particularly the military, have been accused of
\nobstructing access to collation centres by both national and international
\nobservers. There were also reports of individuals leading police and
\nmilitary personnel to disrupt elections and cause mayhem in parts of the
\ncountry, especially in the Niger Delta region of Rivers and Bayelsa
\nstates.<\/p>\n
\u201cObservable interference by security agencies as attested to by the
\nIndependent National Electoral Commission\u2019s fact-finding Committee\u2019s
\nreport, which indicted the military for its unauthorised involvement in
\nelection-day duties must be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the outcome of some state governorship elections is yet to be
\nknown weeks after the polls due to the manipulative efforts by some
\nunpatriotic politicians who want to upturn the sovereign will of the
\nNigerian people at any cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe therefore call on INEC and the Judiciary to frustrate efforts of
\ndesperate politicians and ensure that the will of the people prevails in
\nstates where the governorship polls result is yet to be declared.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria cannot continue on the path of fraudulent elections. It is the
\nduty of the judiciary, where the electoral umpire has failed, to punish
\nbeneficiaries of manipulated electoral outcomes to serve as deterrence to
\ndishonest politicians and eliminate electoral violence and end this
\ncircles of dishonesty by political elite to enable the country to develop.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe strongly believe that flawed elections promote corruption and
\nunderdevelopment, which Nigeria is a typical example.<\/p>\n
“Therefore, we urge INEC and all stakeholders in Rivers State to ensure
\nthat the governorship election in the state is concluded on May 2, 2019
\nwithout tampering with the will of the people through the ballot\u201d, the
\nCNPP stated.<\/p>\n
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has frowned at what it described as \u201ca disappointing decimation of principles of democratic elections\u201d after the 2019 general elections. In a statement…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n