The Institute of Corporate and Public Administrators of Nigeria (ICPAN) says free, fair and credible election is critical for the growth of the country`s democracy.
Dr Charles Edet, National Coordinator of the institute said this on Sunday in Abuja at the 2019 conferment of honourary Doctorate, Fellowship and Investiture of full and associate members of the institute.
He, however, said that election rigging could destroy the progress of democratic government, saying that it was one of the enemies of democracy, with serious consequences.
“When rigging happens in a small scale, one can slightly feel its influence, however, when it affects the election, electoral materials and electorate in a significant way it may lead to serious consequences within the level of government.
“Sometimes, the level of such a desire to see another winner may cause violent standoff.
“Civil unrest undermines the reputation of organisations and suspected fraud in the process may ruin the prospects of future relations between the various communities,” he said.
Edet added that electoral malpractice creates negative confidence on voters during election process, and lead to political apathy which could result to low voters’ turnout during elections.
He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that rigging in an election was totally eliminated to restore voters` confidence on the electoral process.
Prof. Damian Opata, Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in his remark, called on INEC to evaluate its preparedness and block loopholes before the next election.
He noted that there was need for INEC to improve on its preparation before the 2023 general elections, saying that the last elections was marred with lots of hiccups.
“Unfortunately, people are not probing the reasons for the prevalence of our election problems.
“People are not asking foundational questions that generate these problems, they are only talking of restructuring without touching the crux of the matter in restructuring.
“Any restructuring that is made and tailored to fit only the wealthy class, will not solve the nation’s political problems.
“Any type of restructuring that excludes the majority of Nigerians from seeking elective offices because they do not have the financial muscle to participate in and contest elections will be defective,” he said.
Dr Ugwuanyi Ikechukwu, Chief Registrar General of the Institute, called on Nigerians to develop a positive attitude towards public service.
He added that Nigerians must have a change of attitude both in the public service and in their private lives if they must have the change they yearned for.
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