The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has described the statement credited to the leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retired), on the likely consequences of flawed elections in 2015 as a call to make democracy work better.
National chairman of the party, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu said this in Abuja yesterday. He said that the comment was also a challenge for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to do its work better by respecting the law and be fair to all concerned, at all time.
“It is a challenge to the three arms of government to ensure that good laws are made and obeyed by all. No one should be above the law. It is also a challenge to the Nigerian people, especially the electorate, to ensure that no one is allowed to take away their basic right to freely elect those who will lead them,” he added.
Onu called on the National Assembly to take a second look at the 2010 Electoral Act and amend the relevant sections to ensure that elections are free, fair and peaceful, including the enactment of a law that will put in place an independent election offences tribunal that will dispense justice to those who in any way support or commit election fraud.
The party further restated its position on the important need for all elections to be held on the same day. “Our recent experience has shown that staggered elections result in the bandwagon effect where the out- come of the first set of elections determine the trend of subsequent elections.