FCT poll: TMG warns against apathy, malpractices

The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has called for participatory, peaceful, and credible FCT elections in the six area councils of the territory scheduled for Saturday.

The Chairman, TMG, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja.

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He said that the local governments are a very crucial and integral components of the nation’s democracy.

“Disturbingly, council elections have always left much to be desired in the heart of Nigerians. Elections at the local government levels have largely been a charade, with the outcomes leaving electorates and observers perplexed.

“This much has contributed to a huge level of voters’ apathy in council elections with Nigerians not matching the same enthusiasm of the federal and state elections with the council elections.

“TMG is highly worried about the incessant non-credible council polls in Nigeria and the level of voter apathy demonstrated by the Nigerian electorates across council elections in the country.

“However, TMG is confident that the FCT council elections will represent a sharp departure from the norm and set a standard for subsequent local level elections in Nigeria especially as it is overseen directly by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),” he said.

He, therefore, urged the FCT residents in the six area councils to come out en mass to participate in the elections.

He said that it is imperative for residents to understand that non-participation in the electoral process through voter apathy gives ample opportunity to those with ulterior motives to hijack the electoral process and thereby imposing unpopular candidates as winners of the elections.

He also urged INEC and security agencies to ensure modalities are adequately put in place in all the polling units (PUs) of the six area councils to ensure electoral lapses are not recorded in the pre-voting, voting and counting stages of the election to among others serve as a template for elections in the country’s local governments across the country.