Primaries: Political Parties Should Partner EFCC, Others to Prosecute Money Bags, CSOs Declare
- Ahead of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, civil societies have begun to champion the campaign towards a transparent electoral process
- With the new Electoral Act in place, CSOs have begun to sensitize electorates on how to help salvage the electoral system in Nigeria
- The electoral commission and law enforcement agencies have been urged to synergise in other to combat the shortcomings of previous elections
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!
A coalition of seven civil society organisations has urged political parties to give room for fairness and balance during the course of their primary elections.
In a statement jointly signed by the CSOs made available to Legit.ng on Sunday, political parties were urged to partner with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to mitigate the incessant culture of doling out lobby funds to delegates.
Source: Original
The CSOs comprised Yiaga Africa, AfriPeace, CISLAC, Transition Monitoring Group, Centre for the Advocacy of Justice and Rights, Women in Nigeria and Zero Corruption Coalition.
The coalition said:
PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!
"We call on political parties to collaborate with relevant law enforcement agencies to curtail the rather asinine monetization of the nomination process.
"The so-called 'dollar rain' needs to be brought to a definitive end, and delegates sensitized on the necessity of voting their conscience over primordial and pecuniary considerations."
Political parties and their members were urged to safeguard the sanctity of the secret ballot system by institutionalizing binding transparency, anti-inducement, and trust engendering measures that reinforce the confidence of all stakeholders in the primary election process.
2023: Voter inducement is a violation of electoral act - CSOs
The coalition further harped that the trend of monetary inducement in the electoral process does not portray a good image of Nigerian democracy.
According to the statement, such an act is a violation of the Electoral Act which requires the electoral body and law enforcement to wade in and curd the inadequacies in the electoral processes.
The statement said:
"The inducement of delegates as witnessed in the conduct of primaries by political parties represents an ugly trend that is undermining the credibility and integrity of the electoral processes.
"These are clear violations of the electoral act, which requires INEC, the police, and the judiciary to act in ways that will enhance accountability and check impunity."
The coalition further stated that adherence to the above tenets will help salvage the electoral system in Nigeria.
"As we Collectively strive to build democratic institutions that would promote balanced and accelerated development, we urge INEC to enforce its regulatory powers against political parties that contravene provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC guidelines before, during, and after the primaries."
Osun 2022: PAN warns against vote buying, verbal attacks among candidates
Similarly, the Positive Agenda Nigeria (PAN) has urged candidates to desist from voters inducement in the gubernatorial polls in Osun state.
The organisation dropped these hints in its second weekly report on election campaigns ahead of Osun 2022 governorship election.
The organization says it condemns the introduction of insinuation of vote buying capacity by one of the candidates.
Source: Legit.ng
