By Nwafor Okafor
A Civil Society Organisation, Network for Best Practice and Integrity in Leadership (NEBPRIL), has described the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at the recently held governorship election in Osun state, as progressively transparent and a vitalizing tonic for the deepening of democracy in Nigeria.
According to NEBPRIL, INEC deserves the commendation of all Nigerians for it’s relentless efforts in search of means of improvement in its constitutional duties, by deploying confidence boosting technology in the election processes to ensure that the outcome is increasingly reflective of the will of the people.
It said that the results of the recent elections in both Ekiti and Osun states were glowing testaments that the nation’s public institutions can get it right, by putting national interest above partisan considerations.
NEBPRIL made these assertions in a statement circulated to journalists on Monday by its Chairman, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, former member, House of Representatives.
Ogene also commended the people of Osun for their civility during and after the election that ensured the exercise was rancour free and devoid of violence.
He, however, deployed the recourse to coarse and uncouth language in the last days of the campaigns. He rather enjoined politicians to conduct themselves in civil manner, as that would help oil the wheels of democracy, conviviality and peace in the land, rather than making inflammatory conjectures and utterances that often sends wrong signal and cause disaffection, to the general public.
“Phrases such as ‘fall down and die,’ ‘you will labour to death,’ and ‘do anything to ensure you’re announced winner, let them go to court,’ ought not have a place in our political lexicon,” Hon. Ogene said.
The former Rep said, “As INEC and the Nigerian people are making efforts to enthrone a democracy of our dream that is anchored in transparency and supremacy of the will of the electorate, the political class, especially, those that aspire to lead the people, must be seen to be civil in both actions and utterances. They must be men and women of integrity that encourage and uphold the core values of dignity in labour and legitimate source of livelihood.
“It was most disturbing and disappointing to hear a prominent political leader say that some people would ‘Labour till they die’, just because they do not belong to the same political fold as him. That is not an objective language of a true leader that is interested in building a prosperous nation of productive people.”
The NEBPRIL chairman cautioned that politicians should ensure that the 2023 electioneering period should be devoid of offensive, denigrating and divisive utterances that would make the coming election look like a war rather than a leadership selection process.
