Civil Society Insists On Option A4

Civil Society Club of Nigeria has for the umpteenth time called on the Independent  National Electoral Commission, INEC, to adopt Option A4 for the April general  elections.

National Coordinator of the club, Comrade Babatunde Ashafa who restated this at a  press conference in Lagos said Option A4 is the key for bailing Nigeria out of the  current abyss.

“Option A4 is the most transparent, credible, free and fair method of voting where  both the winner and loser will accept the verdict of the people. It also restores  voter’s confidence and eliminate corrupt activities,” he added.

Comrade Ashafa described Option A4 further as the path to reclaiming Nigeria’s  citizenship and sovereignty in the hands of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP-led  federal government.

In his opinion, election results are not just about PDP and INEC, “it is about the  best result for the country in respect of the popular will of the people.”

The CISOCON National Coordinator said his club has mapped out strategies to force  the PDP-led federal government to use Option A4 as being rightly demanded by the  people or allow opposition parties appoint an INEC Chairman to conduct the coming  general elections to ensure the emergence of a real government of the people by the  people and for the people at all levels.

Also speaking at the occasion, Ambassador Olusegun Olusola warned the federal  government against dabbling into the internal crisis rocking Cote d’Ivoire. He  called on the Federal Government to focus its attention on holding a fair and  credible election instead of trying to join forces with other countries to remove  the Ivorien president, Laurent Gbagbo, accused by the international community of  subverting the will of Ivoriens in the country’s general election.

“We must not do anything that will promote conflict in our neighbourhood. We should  not allow ourselves to be dragged into war as we go into elections. We may not have  the opportunity to focus on our election if we get dragged into a war. All  organisations must join the campaign to ensure that Nigeria does not get dragged  into war in Cote d’Ivoire,” Ambassador Olushola, who is also the Chairman of the  African Refugees Foundation stated.

In his speech, Comrade David Anaele, Director, Centre for Citizens with Disability,  corroborated the stand of Ambassador Olushola, saying Nigeria should learn from what  happened to its citizens in Sierra Leone and Liberia when it dabbled into the  countries’ civil wars.

“Many Nigerians were killed while others were maimed and their property destroyed by  warring factions in the troubled countries who see Nigerians as interferring in  their internal affairs,” he disclosed.

Anaele said he lost his hands in Sierra Leone when rebels seized him and cut off his  hands to protest activities of the Nigeria-led ECOMOG Force.

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