The Democratic People’s Congress (DPC), has urged the National Assembly to pass Bills on amendments to the electoral process in the country before the 2019 general elections.
It said in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday that the amendments to the 1999 Constitution and Electoral Act would enable Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prepare adequately for the elections.
In the statement by its National Chairman, Mr Olusegun Peters, the party said that it was time to sanitize the nation’s political process and build a strong, virile, progressive and prosperous democratic nation.
It expressed opposition to the provision for independent candidacy in the amendment, adding that the nation’s democratic structure could not sustain it.
It said that it was disturbing that INEC was yet to conclude some 2015 Federal and State Legislative elections in Rivers and Anambra two years and three months after the polls were conducted.
The party said that if independent candidates were included in elections, there could be over 1, 000 candidates in a ballot paper, explaining that such would confuse most voters and make mockery of the frail democracy.
It also said that the party did not support the call for Nigerians in the Diaspora to vote.
“This is because of poor logistics in conveying the materials to polling booths, malfunctioning of electoral equipment and violence.
“Nigerians live in over 140 countries around the world; it is impossible to get accurate population of our compatriots in the Diaspora, not to mention registering them for elections,” it said.
The DPC called on stakeholders to focus on free, fair, credible, peaceful and successful elections with 60 per cent turnout of voters from the current 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
It commended INEC for the registration of five new political parties, adding that it was a step in the right direction.
“This shows that the commission did proper screening of the 87 political associations that applied to be registered as political parties and registered the best qualified ones.”
It called on Nigerians to take advantage of ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) to register and obtain their voter cards to enable them to participate in the polls.
“Those eligible to register are Nigerian citizens who have attained the voting age of 18 years and those who did not register in previous exercise,’’ it said.
The party urged the people to desist from double registration as it was criminal to do so.
“Your vote is your power to elect credible candidates that will provide good governance and social justice that will usher better life to our long suffering compatriots.
“The era of electoral malpractices, rigging and brigandage is gone with the electoral and constitutional amendments that endorse the use of electronic voting system in future elections,” it stressed. (NAN)
COO/ESAN/OPI