Group Drums Support For INEC In Rivers

A Non-Governmental Organisation, the Initiative for Credible Elections has warned that Rivers people would no longer allow those he called stubborn politicians to truncate the democratic processes in the state, noting that the electoral umpire needs to be encouraged to conclude the process.
Co-convener of the Initiative and a Senior lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Sofiri Peterside made the call during a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.
According to him: “Every critical stakeholder in the state should encourage INEC to complete and conclude that election. But more importantly, we should not die for elections and those who have had the opportunity to serve and benefit from this state should not be those who should actually destroy the state.
“The State belongs to all of us and it is my passionate appeal to all citizens and residents of Rivers State to eschew violence and make sure that our democratization process is devoid of those kind of news that paint this state in a very bad light,” he said.
On the alleged plan by the Nigerian Army to withdraw from election security, the academic don said such move would afford the police an opportunity to prove to Nigerians that it has the capacity to handle security issues without the involvement of the military.
“This provides the opportunity for us to test for those who disagree with the involvement of the military in the electoral processes and whether the Nigerian police can actually contain whatever problems that emanate from that.
“This is the time to actually access the capacity of the police to do that and the neutrality of the police. Why people are complaining is the alleged partisan role played by state security forces.
“Or if not state security forces, by men in uniform,” the co-convener, Initiative for Credible Elections stated.

Dennis Naku