By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja.
As the 2023 general elections draw close, Mr Friday Ogungbemi, Publisher of Kogi-based “Policy and Lawmakers’ Magazine”, has called on politicians and all stakeholders in the electoral process to be abreast of provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
Ogungbemi in a statement on Tuesday in Lokoja described critical appraisal of the Electoral Act as an antidote and sinequanon to a free and fair general elections in Nigeria.
He said that the call had become imperative to sensitise, enlighten and enhance awareness of the electorates in the electoral process towards the conduct of a hitch-free elections in 2023.
The Publisher said that elections in in the country had been bedeviled by wanton ignorance of the provisions of the Electoral Act resulting in violence and wasteful litigations.
He regretted that hitherto, awareness and sensitization activities of the the national electoral body were not adequate.
Ogungbemi however blamed political parties for not intensifying efforts at enlightening their members and the electorates on provisions of the Act.
He stressed that politicians had seized the opportunity of the ignorance of the general public to do acts that were detrimental and inimical to the political awareness of the electorates.
Ogungbemi hinted that it was against this backdrop that the Magazine’s Annual Lecture for 2022, being organised in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Kogi State office would dwell on the appraisal of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He said that the Lecture titled, “A Critical Appraisal Of The Electoral Act, 2020 As An Antidote To A Free And Fair General Elections In Nigeria” was mooted to address the issues ignorance and deliberate neglect of the Act in relation to electoral conduct in the country.
Ogungbemi however, expressed optimism that the resolve to deploy Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) in 2023 General Elections would address malpractices and lend credibility to the outcome of the election. (Ends)
