The National Peace Committee (NPC) has decried the persistence of vote-buying, intimidation and voter apathy during the off-cycle governorship elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa states.
In a statement on Thursday by Abdulsalami Abubakar, its chairman, NPC expressed sadness that “ordinary people” continue to collude with corrupt members of the society to subvert the electoral process.
“We are not unaware of the glitches recorded during the elections. Sadly, we have noted that some of the old ways remain and ordinary people continue to collude with corrupt members of society to stall the processes of our elections,” the committee said.
“The persistence of the culture of vote-buying, intimidation, and voter apathy, among others are disturbing.
“A democratic culture will only grow if we participate in cleaning up the process of our elections because, in the end, we are the victims. The corruption of the process will lead to the emergence of corrupt leaders if we collude with merchants of corruption.”
The committee thanked stakeholders who worked round the clock to ensure that the elections were free, fair and credible.
“Our appreciation goes to the staff of INEC, security agencies, traditional rulers, leaders of political parties, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups, the media and others who ensured the success of the elections in the three states,” the committee said.
“We express our gratitude to voters in the states for defying obstacles and threats by performing their civic duties.”
The committee encouraged Nigerians to remain resilient and use past experiences to correct the mistakes in election processes.
