Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 presidential election, said that he would conduct the best election in Nigeria without spending 50 percent of what the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) spent on the conduct of the presidential and national assembly elections.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, the former Anambra State governor decried the performance of INEC in the conduct of the presidential and national assembly elections, accusing them of not being able to justify the huge amount of money given to them to execute what they promised would be the best election yet.
He insisted that INEC’s failure was not justified given the support it received from the federal government and the belief it created in the minds of Nigerians.
“Simple things become very difficult in this country,” he said. “Like I said, it’s just about the elections. All I want to see in this country is that we have a government and people who believe in the rule of law and follow the guidelines.”
He added that if he were to be president, he would conduct a far more credible election with less than 50 percent of the amount used by INEC.
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“If we say we are going to do it this way, let us do it that way. Like I said earlier if I am in position and people see that in this country, I will be able to conduct the best election without Nigeria spending 50 percent of what Nigeria spent in that election—if actually, we spend 25 percent of that,” he said.
He said that with technology, the electoral commission can achieve a lot, just like other countries are doing by embedding technology into their electoral processes.
He advised that INEC follow its guidelines and that doing so would be the first step in conducting a credible election. “There is a guideline; follow that guideline strictly and maintain it,” he said.
The next thing he said was that he wanted to see that the process was right. “The process through which you achieve anything is far more fundamental than what you do after that.
“I am challenging the process and the declaration; until we get it right, we cannot talk about a government of national unity,” he explained.
He made reference to the situation in the northwest, where bandits hold captives against their will and still demand negotiations for peace. “Let’s do things right,” he said.
