A cleric, Rev. Fr. Joseph Pwol, has charged the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) to ensure that the Oct. 9 local government elections in the state are free, fair, credible and peaceful.
Fr. Pwol, Assistant Parish Priest at St. Louis Catholic Church, Jos, gave the charge in the Plateau capital on Thursday when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The elections will hold in the 17 local government areas of the state.
The cleric said peaceful and credible elections devoid of rancour were the desire of the people to avoid a repeat of events of the past when lives and property were lost.
He advised the electoral body to be transparent and neutral and to treat all candidates and political parties equally.
He stressed that PLASIEC must take steps not to be adjudged as taking sides with the party in power.
“In truth, I envisage that if the elections are not properly conducted, specifically by PLASIEC, there will definitely be chaos at the end of the day.
“In the spirit of transparency voters must be allowed to exercise their franchise without manipulation.
“Plateau over the years had its fair share of violence and other security challenges and so PLASIEC must not allow us to go back to those dark days through these elections,’’ he cautioned.
The priest also called on security agencies to be neutral and to ensure that voters voted their preferred candidates without any form of intimidation.
He called on people of the state to behave themselves properly and be peaceful during the elections.
“I beckon on electors to conduct themselves with decorum as elections are not do-or-die matters.
“People should vote for candidates of their choice and not sell their rights at the detriment of their future and the future of the next generation,’’ Fr. Pwol stressed. (NAN)
