Nurudeen Alimi
As this year’s general elections gather momentum, a call has gone to prospective voters in Nigeria to shun vote buying as such an act is capable of undermining the election process.
The call was made by the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), during a South-West stakeholder meeting ahead of the general elections held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Executive Director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), Faith Nwadishi, while addressing the gathering noted that it became imperative for electorates to resist the temptation of getting involved in vote buying and other actions capable of truncating the smooth conduct of the elections.
Nwadishi, also stated that candidates should campaign based on issues and not heat the polity by creating fear in the hearts of people who want to vote.
She stated further: “Also, security agencies should assure the masses of adequate protection within the election periods. This will instil confidence in them to go out and exercise their civic duty.”
Nwadishi informed that the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), an election observation group having observed elections in the country and all the off-season elections leading to the 2023 general elections will be observing this year’s election by deploying 2000 observers made up of least two observers per 774 LGA across the country. She further hinted that: “These observers will be trained on election observation, Electoral Act 2022 and adherence to INEC election guidelines.
At this meeting, we have in attendance representatives from the six South West States and Kwara who will be coordinating election observation in their various states with CTA. The CTA will also be setting up an election day situation room in Abuja to receive reports in real-time from the field observers.”
CTA seek the cooperation of all stakeholders and support for election observers across the country especially the CTA deployed observers.
Represented at the meeting were security agencies which include: The Nigerian Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Correctional Service as well as other relevant stakeholders such as the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), and all the representatives took a turn to intimate the gathering of what is expected of their organisations to ensure hitch-free general elections.
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