2023: INEC must remain apolitical – Abia Guber Candidate

Bishop Ndukwe Onuoha, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Gubernatorial Candidate in Abia, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remain apolitical during the 2023 General Elections.

Onuoha spoke in Umuahia at a media forum organised by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abia Council.
He said: “INEC has a significant role to play in the emergence of a new administration by May 29.

“Therefore, it must remain an objective umpire to ensure that the process will be transparent.”
Onuoha urged the commission to be wary of unscrupulous politicians that would be bent on manipulating the electoral process to favour them.
He expressed concern that such desparate politicians would want to frustrate the efforts so far made to improve the country’s electoral process.

He alleged that some mischievous persons in a certain local government area of the state were already denying registered voters access to their Permanent Voter Card because they did not belong to certain political parties.
“INEC must make sure that they outsmart the smart politicians, who never want the process to be transparent or who may never want the will of the people to be.
“Past elections were all about sharing unused ballot papers among the high and mighty politicians to increase the number of votes they get at the polls.

“This time, the music has changed because one of the major determinants of the outcome of the process is the  PVC,” the governorship hopeful said
He commended the commission for its efforts during the Ekiti and Osun Gubernatorial Elections in June and July, respectively.

He opined that the outcomes of the two exercises offered hope for ampositive outcome in the upcoming general elections.
Onuoha said that the outcomes were indicators that the  investments made by the Federal Government to transform the commission had paid off.

He described the Electoral Act 2020 (as amended) as the divine will of God and hope of the average Nigerian for a better state and Federal Government.
The clergyman, who is the President, Vision Africa International, a media outfit with headquarters in Umuahia, said he resolved to join partisan politics after the Act was amended and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Onuoha said that with the implementation of the Act, he was confident that INEC would live up to the people’s expectation.
He said that the provisions of the law ensured that there would be “no loopholes” for manipulation during the polls.

He, therefore, expressed optimism that votes would count in the elections, with the electronic voting and transmission of the voting results for everybody to see.
Onuoha said that the innovations by INEC would help to ensure that  individuals with capacity for the task ahead would be elected as Abia governor. (NAN)