Rivers: IPAC backs LGA elections, decries high cost of nomination forms, conflicting court orders

The Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, has urged political parties to actively participate in the forthcoming Local Government Election in Rivers State.

IPAC also enjoined eligible voters in the state to turn out en masse and cast their votes for the candidates of their choice, while demanding for free, fair, credible, peaceful and inclusive election.

The council further urged the judiciary to be guided by the constitutional rule of law and national interest while issuing orders relating to elections to avoid truncating the nation’s democracy.

As the umbrella body of all the registered political parties in the country, it said IPAC is committed to deepening democracy and upholding democratic values, ethos, ethics and ideas in the quest for a better society.

It vowed to resist any attempt to subvert, truncate and destabilize Nigeria’s hard-earned democracy.

DAILY POST reports that the Rivers State Independence Electoral Commission, RSIEC, is scheduled to conduct LGA elections in the State on Saturday 5th October 2024, in all the 23 Local Government Areas of the State.

DAILY POST understands that political parties in the state have since submitted their nomination forms and complied with the guidelines and regulations for the conduct of the election and assured it would be free, fair, credible, transparent, peaceful and inclusive.

“There is no going back in this critical exercise that will further deepen the nation’s democracy at the grassroots level,” National Chairman of IPAC, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, said in a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

IPAC said it is fully backing the Rivers State local government election and all other elections across the country.

It however, said that “What the Council strongly condemned was the high cost of nomination fees” which, according to the Council, “was aimed at excluding credible aspirants who could not afford the outrageous fees as well as sudden change of electoral laws to undermine the national leadership of political parties and subvert the electoral process.

“We maintain that it is inappropriate to change the rule and goal post in the middle of the game and or take undue advantages against fellow contestants.

“For democracy to thrive, there must be a level playing field for all parties and their candidates participating in any election in Nigeria.Electoral integrity cannot be compromised for any reason or for no reason whatsoever.

“In the same way, elections cannot be stopped by judicial fiat in favour of political actors, jobbers and hirelings in pursuit of their inordinate ambitions.

“This was what truncated the June 12, 1993 presidential election adjudged to be the freest election in the country when some political clowns surreptitiously procured an order of the court to stop the much-expected presidential election meant to usher in a democratic government after years of military rule.

“It was a dark period in the nation’s history. It will be unfair, unjust and unacceptable to repeat this national nightmare at the local government election level as obtained in Rivers State where some reactionary forces are bent on stopping the election slated for this weekend.

“Sadly, there have been conflicting court orders in support and against the local Government election in the State and forum shopping by desperate politicians to procure court orders that will subvert the nation’s democracy.

“If this dangerous precedent is allowed, be assured that there will be no more elections in Nigeria as failed politicians masquerading as democrats will approach the court to procure orders to stop elections they are not prepared for. This must not be allowed to happen again after the June 12, 1993 presidential election impasse.”

As a major stakeholder in the democratic process, IPAC said it will not fold its hands and allow political merchants to trade away the nation’s hard-earned democracy using the judiciary as a cover.

“By issuing conflicting orders and judgments, the judiciary has become a tool in the hands of powerful individuals to undermine our emerging constitutional rule. The integrity of the judiciary is at stake as the temple of justice and bastion of democracy.”