The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged lecturers in various institutions in Nigeria, who have been engaged for the 2019 general elections, not to compromise their integrity.
Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State, Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji, made the call during a town hall meeting organized by academics in tertiary Institutions in the South-East and South-South under the auspices of the Academic Frontiers Initiative (AFI) Anambra State Chapter.
Dr. Orji, a Political Scientist, called on the lecturers to live above board and ensure that the 2019 general elections remained the best in the annals of Nigeria’s democratic history as according to him INEC had perfected plans to give Nigerians a free, fair and credible election this year.
The Anambra REC also lamented that over 300,000 PVCs remained unclaimed in the state out of the over two million persons registered in the state.
Dr. Orji condemned vote buying and asked stakeholders to mobilize their people to come out and vote on election day since it is of no use registering over two million votes but only 22 per cent come out to vote.
He urged political parties to nominate credible people as their party agents to ensure the credibility of the elections.
The National Coordinator, Academic Frontiers Initiative (AFI), Dr. Chinedu Onyeizugbe, said the town hall meeting became necessary to mobilize lecturers to become partners in ensuring good governance through sensitization and advocacy for free, fair and credible election rather than continue to be arm chair critics.
Dr. Onyeizugbe reiterated the negative consequences of electoral malpractices, especially vote buying and rigging and insisted that as lecturers they were under obligation as stakeholders to ensure free, fair and credible polls.
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