23rd October, 2015
The Democratic People’s Congress (DPC) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, as the Chairman of the Independent National Elected Commission (INEC).
This was contained in a statement issued by Mr Olusegun Peters, DPC National Chairman, in Abuja on Friday.
Peters said that INEC was a critical institution in the political process that determines who rules the country.
He said that INEC should be headed by a patriotic Nigerian with exceptional integrity, credibility, nobility, accountability and transparency.
According to him, the need for a person with impeachable character devoid of controversy and partisanship to lead the electoral umpire cannot be overemphasised.
“We congratulate Prof. Yakubu and urge him to build on the foundation laid by Prof. Attahiru Jega in the 2015 general election adjudged to be free, fair and acceptable.
The DPC chairman urged Yakubu to ensure that outstanding permanent voter cards were produced and distributed to registered voters.
He also advised him to ensure the supply of adequate and quality card readers for future elections, particularly in the forthcoming Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections.
He said Nigerians expect peaceful, credible and successful polls in these states and would not tolerate any rigging and brigandage.
“The task ahead of INEC is enormous. It is time to retrain its personnel for effective service delivery,” he said.
He urged INEC to deepen its collaboration with the nation’s international development partners to train political parties’ leaders.
Peters said that the capacity building would equip the leaders on the task of building a strong, virile, progressive and prosperous democratic nation.
He urged the commission to provide a level playing field for political parties in its activities, programmes and elections, noting that this was the only way to strengthen Nigeria’s “frail democracy’’.