Off-cycle guber polls: INEC has no reason to fail — ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has no reason to fail in Saturday’s governorship elections in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa.

The Lagos State ADC Chairman, Mr. George Ashiru, told the newsmen in Lagos while speaking on the chances of the party in Kogi.

Ashiru said that the electoral umpire must not fail if it has learned anything from the mistakes of the previous elections.

“When you are conducting elections in 36 states, you can give excuses for having a lot of data, manpower, logistics, and others to deal with.

“There is no reason for failure now that we just have three states. INEC has the resources it uses for 36 states now to focus on three states.

“We expect that this time around, technologies will not fail and security forces will be able to ensure that people, INEC staff, and materials are protected to make votes count,” he said.

He said that INEC and security agents must ensure that polling units are well manned security-wise and that people’s franchises are not disrupted by unruly politicians.

Ashiru added, “We want INEC to conduct an election that will not make any contestants go to the tribunal after the polls.

“If INEC does its job well, every contestant will accept and admit the results as being clear and transparent.

“Once there is any form of failure in any of the key cardinal principles of transparency and security, then democracy will be considered tampered with.”

He said that people had the right to vote, and there votes must count.

Speaking on the Kogi poll, Ashiru said that the ADC governorship candidate, Mr. Leke Abejide, would bring a transformational system of government and ensure people get value for their mandates voluntarily surrendered to the party.

“One of the advantages of a party like ours is that we don’t carry any baggage of misrule and misconduct from past governments and elections.

“We come with a fresh transformational approach to governance, doing things in the correct way, constitutionally.

“We will be carrying everyone along, making sure there is social provision, and delivering economic values without disrupting the system.

“Our party will be dealing with corruption, blocking leakages to create wealth for the common good of the people, and ensuring that democracy is safe,” he said.

Adding that “we are confident that the ADC candidate has the capability to deliver a prosperous Kogi anchored primarily in the welfare of the downtrodden,

“As a two-term member of the National Assembly, the people of Kogi will not regret choosing him as the next governor of the state,” Ashiru said.