By; ADAMA JOHN, Lokoja
The Kogi State Executive Director of Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR) Kogi chapter, Comrade Idris Miliki has decried the spate of attacks on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), culminating in destruction of facilities across the country.
Maliki opined that if the trend is not checked, Nigerians might be forced to cast aspersion on the readiness of the umpire body to conduct the oncoming elections expected to be a grand exercise in years.
He said that other than creating a state of distrust on the authenticity of the elections, there will be general voting apathy that will negate the hallmark of the exercise.
The human right activist was speaking in Lokoja at a 1-day review meeting with political parties on prioritising anti-corruption and accountability issues towards the 2023 general elections organised by the body he presides.
However, he called on security agencies to rise up to the emerging challenge and nip it in the bud to pave way for free, fair, and credible elections that are acceptable to Nigerians expected in a matter of months.
On the part of the umpire body, Miliki called on it to evolve a strategy for PVC collection, saying that the current strategy is not yielding the desired responses from prospective voters.
He enjoined political parties to effectively engage in the mobilization of citizens for the collection of PVC as they are the primary beneficiaries of the electoral process.
Miliki advised that political parties and their candidates need to include anti-corruption, transparency and accountability in their campaign strategies and manifestos as he called on stakeholders to aggressively improve sensitisation and mobilisation for citizens to collect their PVC.
According to him, their campaign activities should promote their manifestos to their members and the general public, devoid of hate speech and gutter languages by political party members.
He called on the state government to take a second look at the signage fees in the state and the protection of those adverts to ensure a level playing ground for all political parties and their candidates.
