The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has called for new and dynamic approaches to ensure that the coming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states are successful.
The Executive Director of CHRICED, Dr. Zikirullahi M. Ibrahim, made the call on Monday in Abuja while briefing the media on the state of the nation.
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According to him, the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states scheduled for September 19 and October 10 offered another opportunity for Nigerians in those states to vote for credible leaders.
He said that in the face of the many challenges facing the country, the democratic process remained the best opportunity for citizens to engage and get things right.
“To do this, Nigerians must be ready to look beyond the failed duo of the APC and the PDP, as those so-called two major parties are bereft of what it takes to take the country out of the doldrums.
“CHRICED calls on Nigerians to avoid defeatist arguments to the effect that there can be no other viable political alternatives apart from these two failed and corrupt political parties, which have set the country far back in development,” he said.
He said alternatives will not drop from the sky; but have to be created by Nigerians who have to at least agree that the country is currently on the wrong track.
Ibrahim said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a key role to play in ensuring elections become credible and that the commission must send a strong message that it will not condone manipulation and violence as seen in past elections.
“CHRICED calls on the commission to live up to its word as recently pronounced that if political actors disrupt the electoral process, no returns would be made. That is a necessary first step towards cleaning up the electoral process, and getting the votes of the people to count,” he added.
