The leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Edo State Chapter, called on Monday the 16 political parties that were expected to participate in the September 21 governorship election to ensure that campaigns should be issue-based.
The elected Chairman of the IPAC, Dr Osasere Greg Igbinomwanhia, stated this shortly after he emerged as the new chairman of the body in the election that was conducted at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Benin City.
He said the IPAC would want a situation where people would be allowed to vote freely according to their conscience.
Igbonomwanhia said, “We are going to work with INEC; we are going to hold meetings regularly to ensure that there is no manipulation of results and after results,
“We are going to continuously engage the party that will win to put them on their toes and ensure that they deliver the dividends of democracy to the people. We are working to ensure that democracy is truly and effectively practiced in Nigeria.”
On the campaigns, he said, “All parties must comply with INEC rules or regulations regarding how campaigns should be conducted, and campaigns should be issue-based, not attacking individuals.
“We must reduce the incidence of violence; we must also talk to ourselves to reduce cases of violence. We must not lose lives
“We must not terminate lives because of elections because the reason we are coming together to form the government is for the interests of those in society.
“So when you kill them, who are you now going to administer? We must try as much as possible to eschew violence.
“We must ensure that we do things differently so that we actually focus on the most important thing, which is to have a government that is responsible and that is determined to actually provide good governance so that the people will be the ultimate beneficiaries of democracy.”
In his acceptance speech after his election, the new chairman assured that IPAC Edo State will do well in discharging its statutory role beyond the expectations of stakeholders, especially the electorate.
He reiterated that IPAC is a UN/AU/ECOWAS/INEC-endorsed body that is expected to help strengthen and deepen democracy in Nigeria.
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