INEC Assures Credible Kwali Council Polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured residents of Kwali Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of free, fair and credible election on April 10.

Chief Stephen Manya, the FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner, gave the assurance in Kwali at a Stakeholders’ Forum organised in the lead-up to the FCT area councils’ elections.

Manya said that the forum, jointly organised by INEC and the National Orientation Agency (NOA), was to enlighten FCT residents about INEC’s preparations for the elections.

“The idea of this stakeholders’ forum is to inform residents of our level of preparedness for the April 10 FCT area councils’ elections.

“ We have worked assiduously on voter registration cards and we want the electorate in the FCT to come out en mass to vote for candidates of their choice.

“With the machinery we have put in place, we are assuring FCT residents of free and fair elections,’’ Manya said.

The INEC boss called on FCT residents not to exercise any fear during the polls, assuring them that their interests and their votes would be well-protected.

Manya also urged political parties to continue with their electioneering to garner the electorate’s support, while fostering wider people’s participation in the elections.

“We do not want people to see politics as the winner takes all syndrome; rather, we want all the people’s interests to be protected in the territory,” he said.

In his speech, Mr Richard Torhee , the NOA Director in the FCT, said that the forum was organised to address the perceptible challenges of past elections.

He urged political parties to sensitise their members to voting procedures so as to reduce the number of voided ballot papers after elections.

He also implored the parties to ensure that their agents at polling stations were committed party members.

Torhee urged the traditional rulers to refrain from partisan politics, saying that their engagement in partisan politics could cause confusion since all the contestants were their “children’’.

Also speaking, Mr Dalami Yebu, the Chairman, Kwali Area Council, commended INEC and NOA for organising the forum.

Yebu called on Kwali residents to support INEC in efforts to ensure free, fair and credible election in the area.