PFN Chairman calls for cancellation and repeat of Elections in problem areas
Emmanuel Alfred
The Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Cross River State, Dr Lawrence Ekwok has called for the cancellation and repeat of elections in areas where some people were not allowed to vote or where the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), Ballot boxes and other election materials were either carted away or destroyed by political thugs.
They also said that other areas where elections should be cancelled and repeated should include Polling Units or States where ballot papers did not contain the logo of some Political Parties.
In their words: “Doing this will avoid possible protests from those who feel disenfranchised and will also discourage thuggery of any form.
If this is done, eventual winner of the election will be confident of having the mandate of the Nigerian people while also discouraging thuggery and impunity in future elections.”
Dr Ekwok also condemned a situation where ordinary Nigerians will openly threaten other citizens and warning them to go home if they will not vote for a certain candidate, adding that “ nobody is more Nigerian than other Nigerians “
He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to match action with words by doing everything possible to convince Nigerians that the Commission is truly committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections.
The PFN chairman called on Cross Riverians, especially members of the PFN Cross River State to come out in large numbers to vote massively in the Governorship and House of Assemly elections in the March 11, 2023 Elections.
He also called for a speedy upload of results to avoid the suspicion that INEC a officials are trying to tamper with the results.
In a related development, the management of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)Cross River State wishes to announce to the Stakeholders that the State Presidential Election Collation Centre will be declared open by 12 noon.
Stakeholders and Political Party Agents for Presidential Election Collation Centre, Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) Members, Press, Observers, INEC Staff involved in the Collation exercise are hereby notified.