January 30, 2018

An Ebonyi based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Advocacy For Good Governance, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free, fair and credible general elections in Ebonyi in 2019.

Mr Okenwa Uka, the Coordinator of the NGO made the appeal at a media briefing on Tuesday in Abakaliki.

According to him, the enthronement of responsible and credible leadership is achievable if the processes leading to the emergence of those leaders are free, fair and devoid of manipulation or undue interference.

Ukah urged INEC to shun acts that could derail the smooth conduct of the elections in Ebonyi and ensure that people’s vote counted.

He said that the group has embarked on sensitisation of the electorate to ensure that eligible voters in the state participated in the electoral process, especially in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

“We are committed to ensuring that only credible, good and service oriented leaders emerged in the forthcoming 2019 general elections in Ebonyi.

“We have organised series of symposia, seminars and sensitisation campaigns to educate, sensitise and mobilise our people to take active part in the election of their representatives.

“Good governance begins with the people taking active stand against emergence of corrupt, non-credible, wicked leaders; and the only way to do this is by active involvement in the electoral process.

“We are appealing to INEC to ensure that the 2019 general elections were not only free, fair and credible but also to ensure that leaders emerged through popular votes,” Uka said.

He appealed to all residents of the state who were yet to register to take advantage of the ongoing CVR to register and obtain their voter cards.

He also urged those whose Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were either lost, defaced or have changed residency to go to INEC for update.

“We are using this medium to appeal to every eligible electorate in the state who have lost their PVCs or whose PVCs are defaced to approach any INEC office nearest to them to have their PVCs updated.

“The desire of our group is to ensure that no qualified adult voter is left out in the process of choosing our next political representatives in 2019, and we are committed to the ideal, “he added.