Don’t Stagger 2011 Polls -CPC

The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), yesterday, advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to stagger the 2011 elections.

The National Secretary of the CPC, Mr Dennis Aghanya, gave the advice in a telephone interview with newsmen in Abuja.“If the elections are staggered, it would give room for manipulations but if conducted the same day, no party will have advantage over the other”, he said.

According to him, “it is better if all the elections are conducted the same day so that the fate of everyone is decided on the same day. It will also save cost”.

The Tide source reports that civil society groups had clamoured for the introduction of staggered elections to make polls more manageable.

The CPC Secretary also supported the release of the amount demanded by INEC for voters’ registration, noting it was not too much to compile a credible voters’ register.

The INEC had on July 22 this year said it needed N74 billion for the exercise, a figure that has attracted criticism from various stakeholders including Deputy Senate President, Ekeremadu who described the request as outragous“

But the CPC argues, no amount of money spent to have a free and fair election will be too much for the country,’’ he said.