Ben Obi, Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Inter-Party Affairs, has stressed the need for the conduct of a free and fair governorship election in Osun State.
He made the call on Thursday, in Osogbo, at a sensitisation workshop organised by his office for political parties contesting the poll.
Obi said: “Party followers should be enlightened to understand and accept that two people cannot occupy a position meant for one person.
“All well-meaning Nigerians should be concerned when the electoral environment is over heated by provocative language.
“This does not augur well for contestants, the electorate as well as the political and electoral systems.’’
The Special Adviser reminded political parties of the need to ensure compliance with the revised political parties’ code of conduct they signed.
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“Most of our political parties have negated a lot of their duties and concentrated mainly on elections and attaining political power at the expense of entrenching democracy,” he pointed out.
The chairman of the occasion, Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (retd), charged all stakeholders to give the growth and stability of democracy the necessary attention.
He stressed on the need for political parties and stakeholders to make the indivisibility and peaceful co-existence of the country a priority.
“A country cannot be truly democratic until its citizens have the opportunity to choose their representatives through transparent elections,” he added.
Speaking, Senator Sunday Fajinmi, Alliance for Democracy governorship candidate, said that the only way to make political contests less violent was to make political offices less financially attractive.
Adding his voice, Adejare Bello, the PDP Deputy Governorship candidate, urged politicians to refrain from promoting violence. (DailyPost)
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