The commendation is coming amidst the disciplinary action taken against 23 staff of the commission indicted for various misconduct during last December election rerun in Rivers state.
In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja and signed by the ISDMG Director of Mobilization and Communication, Ms. Faith Nwadishi, the group said there must be no sacred cows; hence, politicians and security operatives that are indicted in these findings must also be prosecuted.
Ms Nwadishi described the action of the electoral body as an unprecedented move in that the Commission did not wait to be hounded or coerced into setting up an internal cleansing mechanism which will, no doubt, enhance the sanctity of its mandate.
She said, such action will serve as deterrence to others who may be conceiving of ridiculing the system in future, emphasizing that the prosecuting authorities must ensure that diligent prosecution is carried out and appropriate sanctions , to the fullest extent of the law possible are meted out to those convicted by the law courts. Speaking further, she said,
“On the EFCC report which indicted about 202 members of staff of INEC across 12 states, we identify with the resoluteness of the current leadership of the Commission to stamp out the few bad eggs from within who have over the years , through collusion with the political class, put question marks on the credibility of elections in our country , thereby casting aspersions on the integrity of the greater majority that put their lives on the line to ensure that elections are free and fair .
“We recognise the fact that managing the Nigeria electoral process is a herculean task considering the crop of politicians that litter the political space.
When politicians throw caution to the wind and connive with agencies of state, namely security, compromised government officials , INEC officials and private citizens to shatter the process, it becomes a huge challenge and an enormous task which requires that all well-meaning Nigerians join hands with the INEC to maintain the sanctity of the ballot in our country.
“At this point, we applaud INEC, especially at the centre, for its efforts at protecting the integrity of elections in Nigeria.
The leadership has demonstrated willingness to deliver on its mandate in a transparent manner; however, we still urge the Commission to deepen public engagement, this we hope will create the momentum that will drive a public buy-in of the reforms that the leadership is driving .”
She urged politicians to conduct themselves in an orderly manner and desist from all actions that are capable of sending the country back to the dark age of electoral mismanagement in the country.
She said, “Politics can be played with some level of decorum and we strongly advocate for it to be so.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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