INEC’s performance in Osun brightens hope of NNPP, others in 2023 polls – Hon. Okolugbo

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By Lanre Oloyede

Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, for Abuja-South Federal Constituency, Hon.Gloria Okolugbo, Monday stated that the performance of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in last Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Osun State has brighten the hope of her party to get a fair deal in the 2023 general elections.

Hon. Okolugbo maintained that INEC’s impartial and unbiased officiating of the Osun guber election means that votes can now count and the people can now decide their future by themselves.

Okolugbo, who stated this Monday in Abuja at the official unveiling of the NNPP vice presidential candidate, Bishop Isaac Idahosa by the party’s presidential flagbearer, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, expressed confidence that with the level of transparency displayed by the electoral umpire in Osun, other smaller political parties and individuals can stand elections and hope to get the votes they actually deserve.

“We’re very encouraged with the performance of INEC in Osun, it shows that all the research they have done in the past over the years is being worth it.

“We’re beginning to see the fact that we can have credible elections and it’s been able to help us to be able to stand on the merit and demerit of what we can do for our people not ethnic sentiments. It means Candidates can emerge on their own merit because of who they are within the community and community members can pick for themselves who they want to represent them,” she stated.

The event which took place at International Conference Centre, ICC, Abuja, had in attendance National Chairman of NNPP, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, all Governorship and national assembly candidates of the party and other dignataries.

While unveiling Idahosa, Senator Kwankwaso noted that he made the choice of the clergyman after “careful considerations and meticulous screening of more than 20 prospective candidates”.

The former Kano State governor explained that Idahosa was selected because of his “outstanding record, his impeccable integrity, his broad understanding of the Nigerian State and its contemporary challenges, his undiluted commitment to improving the conditions of Nigerians, and his sincere belief that a new and better Nigeria is possible if we work together with sincerity, tolerance, competence, and faith.”

In his remarks, the Vice presidential candidate, Idahosa, thanked Kwakwanso for deeming it fit to consider him as his running mate, while promising to bring his experience to bear in realising the mandate of the party at the 2023 elections.

Speaking to journalists at the event, Hon.Gloria Okolugbo, described the pairing of Kwakwanso and Idahosa as a divine choice capable of birthing a new Nigeria that everyone desires.

“It’s a divine choice because a combination of two of them was not originally calculated but by the special grace of God, the alignment has been done at a time when it is critical for this nation to find unity, to find solution to the divergence that has happened in the last few years.

“So, I think it’s a wonderful choice by his Excellency Dr. Rabiu Kwakwanso. He has taken time and pains to select his vice president because he’s sensitive to the yearnings of the people of Nigeria. He could have taken from anywhere but he took time to consult with people to make sure that he picks somebody who is young, who came across another religion which is our Christian religion unlike some people who thought they could pick anybody they like because they think they can get votes from them but by the special grace of God, with this choice Nigerians are going to throw their weight behind his Excellency Dr Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso and his running mate Bishop Isaac Idahosa, and by the special grace of God, a new breathe of life, a new Nigeria is going to emerge,” she stated.

Hon. Okolugbo expressed optimism that the NNPP will do well in the 2023 elections “because we are a great grassroots party, the peoples party.”

Also Speaking, Hon Ann Obute representing AMAC/BWARI in the house of Representatives described Kwakwanso as a detribalised Nigerian who deals with people based on merit and capacity.

” He (Kwakwanso) is someone who doesn’t segregate, he doesn’t deal with people based on parochial sentiments like religion, ethnicity or gender. He is a man of merit who picks people and Support them based on merit and that’s what happened with the choice of Bishop Isaac Idahosa as his running mate.

“His relationship with women is awesome. He’s someone who doesn’t underrate women capacity to perform. If not, someone like me would not have become what I am today,” she said.