By Stanley Nwanosike
Enugu – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given out hotlines for inquires and complaints on its activities in Enugu State, in order to carry all the electorate along.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 24-hour hotlines are: 08098820020 and 08104066068.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr Emeka Ononamadu, gave out the numbers during a ‘People and Power Conference’ in Enugu on Thursday.
The conference has the theme: “Power of Citizens to Choose Responsible Leaders in a Democracy.’’
Ononamadu said that the numbers should be used by anybody having difficulties with the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) or collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and any other issues concerning the electoral process.
“INEC is adequately prepared for the 2019 general elections because we started preparing for it since 2017.The commission has announced the election timetable and its processes. INEC is making good progress, so far.
“For INEC activities in Enugu State, we have been working relentlessly every day, even Sundays, to ensure that the process of the ongoing CVR and PVC collection is not interrupted any day.
“We have done far-reaching consultations with all critical stakeholders to ensure that the people buy into, and start taking ownership of the entire electoral process for it to be a great success.
“The idea of hotlines is an innovation created by the INEC office when I took over, it has helped to bridge the gap between the people and INEC in the state.
“For sometimes now, the hotlines have made the commission to even monitor what its staff in the field are actually doing daily,’’ he said.
The REC, however, urged the electorate to be alive to their responsibility of voting and protecting their votes in order to ensure that only credible leaders would be voted.
He noted that only credible leaders would give Nigerians good governance and deliver democratic dividends to the people.
According to him, credible election is a multi-stakeholders’ business involving everybody assisting INEC to get it better.
“I will urge the enlightened among us in the state to educate others against electoral malpractices; which include the shameful vote-buying and selling experienced in recent elections.
“The onus is on us, the human actors in the electoral process, to do the right things and set the right examples for others to follow.’’
Earlier, the Executive Director of African Heritage Institution (Afri-Heritage), Prof. Ufo Okeke-Uzodike, said Okeke-Uzodike said that Nigerians must get involved in politics and ensure that the right people with people-oriented programmes were elected.
He also called on voters to ensure that non-performing politicians were shown the way out.
“It is everybody’s responsibility to ensure that only people that are genuinely concerned about developing the nation and must have gathered some level of experience to do that are voted in.
“Nigerians must rise above primordial sentiments and begging for money from politicians to ensure result-oriented people get into political offices,’’ he said.
The conference which attracted people from all walks of life, is organised by Afri-Heritage and Fled International Leadership Institute, Abuja.
NAN reports that the event featured extensive questions session on activities of INEC and other electoral related issues.
(NAN)
