By Gbenga Oke
LAGOS—National Chairman of African Democratic Congress, ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu, has called on the chairman of Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, to boost the electorate’s trust and confidence in INEC’s ability to deliver in 2011 elections.

Speaking in Lagos at the unveiling of a cosmopolitan agenda for the 2011 general elections, tagged Move-Up Nigeria, Nwosu said: “Professor Jega must tell Nigerians he can deliver free and fair elections and he must know how to lobby Nigerians because they are frustrated. Nigerians have gone to stand on the line in the past and eventually their votes did not count.

“When we had our last stakeholders’ meeting with Professor Jega, I said: ‘what you need to do for this INEC to make a difference is to talk to the Nigerian people that you will guarantee free and fair elections for people to have faith again’. But that has not been done.

“They are only calling on people to come for registration and come for the polls. A situation which many Nigerians might not have belief in.”

On Move-Up Nigeria
Speaking on the activities of Move-Up Nigeria, he said: “Move-Up Nigeria is an anchor association of prominent stakeholders and the political parties coalition determined to restructure things appropriately in Nigeria.”

Also speaking at the event, Chairman of Move-up Nigeria, Mr. Uchenna Nwankwo, said: “In Nigeria, programmes of economic reconstruction will continue to fail until we get the politics of national reconstruction right and the reform Nigeria needs is political.”

and the first thing we need to effect a thorough restructuring of the captive Nigerian state that will in turn reconcile the different Nigerian people and hence liberate the suppressed genius and complementary energies of people for social and economic advancement”

Nwankwo however stated “ our political reform agenda for this country is partly attitudinal involving the inculcation and internalization of values and conviction for Nigeria to make true concerted progress politically and otherwise and power has to be returned to a true federal union where substantive power is devolved to the federating units and this we believe will curb acrimony in the country’s political life and unleash forces for the consolidation of democracy”.

“To facilitate this ADC alliance and the aim is to throw up a cosmopolitan agenda that will move Nigerian politics from parochialism to global thinking, from pigeon hole mentality to national perspective, from ethnic stereotyping to patriotic citizenship based on character and meaning that will enrich our common wealth”.