"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."
The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Abia State, Ndukwe Onuoha, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remain apolitical during the 2023 general elections.
Mr Onuoha spoke in Umuahia at a media forum organised by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abia State 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."
Mr Onuoha urged the commission to be wary of politicians who would be bent on manipulating the electoral process.
He expressed concern that such politicians would want to frustrate the efforts made so far 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.
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"This time, the music has changed because one of the major determinants of the outcome of the process is the PVC," the governorship candidate said
He commended the commission for its efforts at the recent governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.
The outcomes of the two elections offered hope for positive outcome in next year's general elections, he said.
Mr Onuoha said 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.
Mr Onuoha, is a cleric and president, Vision Africa International, a media outfit with headquarters in Umuahia.
He said he resolved to join partisan politics after the electoral law was amended and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr Onuoha said with the implementation of the electoral law, he was confident that INEC would live up to the people's expectation.
The provisions of the law ensured that there would be "no loopholes" for manipulation during the polls, he said.
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.
(NAN)
