The Emir of Ilorin and Chairman Kwara State Council of Chiefs , Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commisssion (INEC) against being partisan in the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
The First class traditional ruler gave the advice in his palace while recieving the Resident Electoral Commisssioner in Kwara State , Malam Attahiru Madami who led other officials of the commission on a courtesy visit to the emir.
Sulu Gambari promised to organise prayer for the success of the election.
According to him, he would do everything humanly possible within the electoral act to ensure a smooth and fair polls.
The traditional ruler called for peace and tranquility before, during and after the elections and called on the political class, the electorate and all stakeholders to play the game in line with the electoral law.
Earlier, the state Resident Electoral Commisioner , Malam Madami urged traditional rulers in state to help promote peace and pray for successful conduct of the upcoming general elections.
He said that the visit was to solicit the traditional rulers’ support and for him to enlighten their subjects on the need to maintain peace and shun violence all through the process leading to the election and after.
Madami similarly urged the traditional rulers to lead in prayer for a successful election in Kwara and Nigeria at large and promised that the commission would be neutral in the discharge of it’s statutory and constitutional duties.
The Resident Electoral Commisssioner disclosed that the gubernatorial candidates of all the seventeen political parties in the state wrote him a letter that they have agreed to sign peace accord and also commended him for maintaining neutrality in his conduct as an unbais electoral umpire.
Also in his remarks, the state Director of National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr Olusegun Adeyemi urged Nigerians particularly the people of the state to shun vote buying and vote selling.
The NOA boss gave the assurance that the agency is ready to embark on the sensitisation of eligible electorate on how to vote correctly and thumb print rightly, and avoid thumbprinting on the margin which would automatically lead to cancellation of such votes.
He applauded INEC and the Federal Government for the introduction of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System ( BVAS) stressing that with this electronic device, the era of vote rigging and other irregularities associated with elections in the past would no longer happen .
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