Govs Out To Ruin 2023 Polls By Stifling Opposition — IPAC

Others were Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC; Director-General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON; Director-General, National Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU; Chairman Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC; INEC National Commissioners; representatives of various security and safety agencies; Chairman, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, BON; Chairman Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN; President, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ; representatives of financial institutions and leaders of civil society organisations, CSOs

Speaking on behalf of the 18 registered political parties, Chairman of IPAC, Engr. Yabagi Sani, accused state governors of preventing the opposition from selling their manifestos to the populace in the states.

Sani noted that if the use of money was allowed a free rein in the elections, there is no guarantee that elections would be credible, transparent, acceptable and rancour-free.

He said in the countdown to the 2023 elections, IPAC and a broad spectrum of concerned stakeholders had observed that if urgent and drastic steps were not taken, the elections would not be free, fair and credible due to the negative influence of money in the electoral process.

“Understandably, many Nigerians have demanded to know from INEC what the commission is doing about the deleterious influence of money in elections, particularly the diabolical purchase of Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVCs, from voters ahead of the election and vote buying at polling units on election day.

Over the years, we introduced a number of measures, including the slight reconfiguration of our polling units to bring the ballot boxes closer to the voting cubicles to discourage the exposure of the marked ballot papers by voters to vote buyers. We also banned the use of smart phones and photographic devices by voters in the voting cubicles. Yet, these measures have recorded limited success.

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“Today, we commence yet another initiative to sanitise and strengthen our electoral process. We believe that in dealing with the corruption of our elections by money, the commission cannot do it alone. To succeed, we must mobilise every relevant national institution to support our efforts. We must rely on the professional and other capacities of cognate agencies in our determination to improve electoral administration in Nigeria.

“The commission is aware that legal provisions and the actions of the agencies are critical but will not be enough to completely root out the deep-seated cancer of corrupt money in our elections. The concerted actions of citizens are crucial. Citizens must reject inducements to sway their votes through vote buying”, he counselled.