By Gbenga Oke

Lagos—Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Lagos state, Mr Akinwumi Ambode has called on the Independent Electoral Commission, (INEC) to stand up to its responsibilities ahead of February general elections.

Ambode:

He also urged Nigerians to stand up and challenge INEC to do the right thing before and during the elections.

Ambode who was a panellist at an event organised by a non governmental organization called January 9 Collective, (9JC) annual lecture over the weekend called on Nigerians to vote for the change which APC preaches.

Speaking on the lecture topic tagged, “2015 General Polls:Beyond the Rhetoric’s of Credible Elections”, he said it is high time INEC brought about sanctity in the electoral process in Nigeria.

His words, “I think it is high time INEC as an institution rise to its responsibilities and it is only when we have an independent INEC, then we can talk of credible polls like the one we had in 1993 general elections”.

“INEC is an institution and they are supposed to work tirelessly to ensure we have credible polls but if they seems not to be doing the right thing, I think Nigerians needs to rise to the occasion and ensure the umpire is doing the right thing” he added.

In his lecture, the Keynote speaker, Professor Anthony Kila who is an International Director of Studies at the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS) in Cambridge University stated that it is the credibility of elections that gives legitimacy to governments.

In his submission, Publisher of Ovation magazine and one time Presidential aspirant, Chief Dele Momodu said Nigeria can still achieve the feat in the 1993 general elections.

He said, “Credible elections are still very possible and I believe we need to go back to the drawing board and check how we got it wrong after that 1993 elections adjudged to be the fairest elections ever conducted in Nigeria. I think we need to start declaring election results at the polling units to give it some level of credibility.”

In its welcome address, Captain of the group, 9JC, Mr Seun Soyinka said January 9 Collective is not an affiliate of any group but a group of like-minded Nigerian professionals whose unifying strong bond is the unwavering belief in Project Nigeria.