By Haruna Salami
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must sign the peace accords being signed by candidates of various political parties as step towards peaceful elections in 2023.
The President of Ugwumba Centre for Leadership Development in Africa (UCLDA), Mr. Uche Nwosu stated this in an interview in Abuja.
The former gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 election in Imo state said the role of INEC in peaceful, free, fair and credible election is crucial.
According to him, “the only thing that can mar this election is INEC. If INEC does the right thing, believe me, people will be happy. If the election is free and fair and people’s votes are counted, you will see everybody will be satisfied. Where problem comes is when people’s votes are not counted; and when people vote and at the end of the day, their votes become useless.
“The problem is the electoral umpire, the people that will conduct the election. For us the masses, the voters, we are ready; it’s left for them to guide us. Our security agencies too should come up.
‘The last time I spoke at Radio Nigeria and they were asking about the peace accord, I told them that the peace accord was between the candidates: PDP, APC, Labour Party, SDP and other presidential candidates. INEC must be made to come and join and become part of the peace accord.
“Where the APC, APGA, Labour, ADC, etc candidates sign; what of INEC? What if someone from INEC office declares fake results? Are you going to hold one of the presidential candidates responsible if there is problem, meanwhile the person who caused the problem is going free. So, they should be made to sign so that if anyone from INEC does anything wrong, he should be made to bear the consequences.
Mr. Nwosu said INEC assurances to Nigerians on the 2023 elections are heart warming, adding that we should believe them. “I think they have done well. When you look at the various elections after the 2019 general elections, if it were before, like in Osun state they will say ruling party, but you have seen that INEC is neither working for the Federal Government nor for President Muhammadu Buhari.
“If INEC was working for President Buhari and APC the case might be the other way round in Osun state. If INEC did not look at the ruling party to declare the results in Osun state, we believe that INEC can do better in 2023”, he said.
He advised Nigerian voters to look at the candidates of the various political parties on their antecedents to equip the voters with the relevant information that will make them take the right decision on election day.
However, the former gubernatorial candidate of Action Alliance (AA) Party said what is uppermost in his mind now the work of Ugwumba Leadership Centre, which has trained and empowered more than 5,000 youth.
He said the training has impacted in people’s lives from 2013 to date, adding that they do this with their partners. “Most of the funding comes from our partners. Last two years, one of our partners distributed $150,000 to train 111 youths in Masters degree courses in USA. The same thing with one of our partners in the UK who donated pounds to do training and they all got their certificates”.
