The Peoples Democratic party’s candidate in the scheduled gubernatorial election in Ondo state, H E, Agboola Ajayi, has charged the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, to use tomorrow’s excercise in Edo, to register itself as a promoter of democratic values, thus imploring the body, to reanimate electorate’s trust in the electoral body, by conducting a credible election on Saturday.
Ajayi made the charge in Akure on Friday, while speaking with newsmen on the need for transparency and fairness in handling both the Edo and Ondo state’s off -cycle elections.
Insisting on a “credible election to revive the trust of voters in our electoral activities” the former deputy governor said ” the INEC has a great assignment on its hands tomorrow. The assignment is to ensure that the Edo election is fair and transparent enough to avoid any kind of litigation.
“No doubt, INEC will be the most beneficiary of a credible election in Edo, because the electoral body has a point to prove” the gubernatorial candidate posited.
Speaking further, the former Reps member said ” in the recent past elections, the number of people who came out to vote reduced drastically and this is because of lack of trust in the system but INEC can help in this regard.
” Our people needed to be assured that their votes count. They needed the assurance that when they que in the sun and in the rain to vote, BIVAS will not suddenly become irrelevant and figures will not just be written instead , they will be transparently counted while ballot box snatching will not suddenly become a norm”
Registering that “we need credible elections to move our democracy from it’s nascent state to maturity” Ajayi opined that, the Edo and Ondo states elections are very important and good opportunities for INEC to demonstrate it’s not partial and not working for the ruling government as many are insinuating.
Ajayi,thus made a case for a conducive environment for INEC to operate.
” I want to plead with every interests partaking in tomorrow ‘s excercise including the voters, to be law abiding, peaceful and orderly, so that INEC can do its job the way it should be done without excuses
” I also want to implore the Inspector General of Police, to ensure that his men perform their role creditably well and in tandem with international standard practice.Other security agencies should also work in accordance with the laws that establish them during the election and for our democracy to thrive” Ajayi pleaded.
