By Toye Faleye
The All Progressives Congress party (APC) has advocated transparency and openness in the conduct of the Saturday Presidential and National Assembly elections coming up Saturday 23.
This is contained in the press briefing issued by APC PresidentialCampaign Council signed by Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN and Hadiza Bala-Usman of the Directorate of Election Planning and Monitoring as well as the Directorate of Contact and Mobilizationrespectively on the postponement of the February 16 presidential and National Assembly elections.
It reads in part: “As a result of the common pain shared by us all, we, the Directorate of Election Planning and Monitoring, and Contact and Mobilization on behalf of APC Campaign Council, demand greater openness and transparency in the Commission’s preparations ahead of Saturday 23rd February 2019.”
The council noted that elections and political parties are primarily about people, expressing concern that millions of Nigerians have sacrificed their time, resources and convenience to perform the national civic duty only to be disappointed by the postponement.
“As a party, our disappointment is doubled due to the fact that unlike some who were apparently privy to this postponement in advance, we found out alongside the public a few hours before the polls opened.”
The council therefore
“Our sympathies go to all those people and we urge them not to despair. However, we Nigerians are determined and resilient people and we will not let the shortcomings of INEC deter us from exercising our franchise.
“Therefore, we ask you all to stay calm, stay determined and come out en masse on February 23, 2019, to vote for APC, President Muhammadu Buhari and all APC Senators and House of Representative candidates.
“We urge all Nigerians to convert their disappointment to determination and ensure that their previous sacrifice does not go to waste.”
The council expressed that members of the public should know what steps INEC have taken with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to asses, take inventory of materials and brief the public about what their condition is.
It said the status of INEC’s plans to procure and provide materials for election should be known and in particular they should let Nigerians know if all materials required are in country and if not what plans the commission has to ensure that they are.
The Council stated that members of the public should be aware of the commission’s plan to re-deploy and distribute materials ahead of Saturday 23.
It also demanded for the following:
The specific problems INEC encountered in the failed attempt of Saturday February 16 and measures it has taken to overcome them,what transport logistics and further materials INEC requires in terms of vehicles, boats, trucks, airplanes, helicopters, manpower and funding to execute the elections of February 23 and March 9 and the confirmation that the configuration of the card readers will be completed in readiness of Saturday 23.
The directorates stated that: “In addition to all of these, we believe that INEC should brief Nigerians daily on an ongoing basis until this process is concluded. This is one way to elicit the buy-in of Nigerians that INEC is serious and this will replace disappointment with enthusiasm.
“As President Buhari has urged that ‘Nigerians should continue to rally round INEC at this trying national moment,’ INEC has the duty to now make its processes open, believable and inspiring, this is what Nigerians can and will rally round. This is the road to free and fair elections which is a victory for Nigeria and not for any party.”
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