Ahead of the February 12 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections, natives of the FCT have appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that their votes count in the election.
Mr. Danjuma Tanko Dara, who made this call on behalf of residents and natives of Abuja in a press briefing which was attended by politicians and senior stakeholders from the six area councils, also appealed to INEC to prevent the issue of inconclusive elections which he said had always been used to deny the people their choice candidates.
Dara warned that a repeat of what happened in the 2015 general elections should not be witnessed in the forthcoming election, as the people were bent on ensuring a change in the leadership of the FCT.
According to him, wrong political leaders have been elected because of some lapses on the part of the electoral body, and such should not be allowed to happen again.
“We are all going out to elect chairmen of our choice because we are tired of so many wrong things happening in the FCT as a result of wrong people elected to govern us. That is why we are appealing to INEC to make sure that our votes count.
“INEC should not allow selfish politicians to rig the election and thereby put us in another round of suffering again. We need a serious political change in this FCT and we want to achieve that through the coming elections.
“We want to also use this opportunity to advice residents and natives of Abuja to resist any financial inducement from politicians to buy their votes and conscience. They should resist financial temptations from selfish politicians.
“They should know that selling their votes is selling their birthright for another three years because politicians who buy their votes do not care about their future. We should be wise this period.
“We want to also advise voters and party agents not to depart the voting areas until after results are collated, counted and recorded. They should be sure that they have sighted original copies of the results sheets which they signed. Enough is enough of the tail leading the head,” he said.
Dara also called on the international community, human rights groups, civil society organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations and international observers to be keenly on the watch during and after the election, so that the results will not be tampered with.
