Mimiko Canvasses Two-Party System

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo, has called for internal democracy within political parties to guarantee free and fair elections.Mimiko, who spoke in Akure at an event organised by the state government to mark June 12, also canvassed for a two-party system which, he said, would ensure a more virile democracy.”Internal democracy is a ‘sine qua non’ to free and fair elections anywhere in the world. It is not enough to believe in democracy.“But we must struggle, in our own little ways, to ensure that it is firmly entrenched in the nation’s political system.”Whether we like it or not, democracy will thrive better if we adopt a two-party system as is the practice in many advanced countries of the world,” the governor said.Mimiko make case for independent candidates who “may not want to pitch their tents with either of the two parties’’, stressing that such people should be allowed to aspire for political offices of their choice.The governor urged the people to cultivate the habit of defending their votes “as election riggers are still much around”. Mimiko faulted the present voters’ register which he said consisted of fictitious names, stating that the voters’ register used in the state during the last general elections was full of errors.Earlier, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, raised doubt over the possibility of conducting elections in 2011, saying INEC seemed ill-prepared.Falae, who is also the National Chairman of Democratic Peoples Alliance, said “there can be no meaningful election when the voters’ register is faulty as it is now.” According to him, a situation where voters are not sure of the security of their votes and a credible voters’ register is not in place with only less than 10 months to the elections, calls for serious concern. The Chairman, Editorial Board of The Nation Newspaper, Mr. Sam Omotasye, also urged Nigerians to be ready to make sacrifice for the sustenance of democracy “like the late MKO Abiola did during the struggle for the actualisation of his mandate”.