BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

PORT HARCOURT—National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has advocated  for a system where politicians indicted by competent courts over electoral fraud  are disallowed from contesting  elections in the country.

Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, at a two- day public hearing on electoral accountability in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said such move will rid the country of corrupt and fraudulent politicians.

Meanwhile, civil society groups in Rivers State have protested against fraudulent elections in the country.

The protesters, who stormed the venue of the public hearing organised by the NHRC, said it was high time votes counted in general polls in the country.

Some of the placards they carried read: “INEC, we want to vote, but we are not allowed”; “Police harassment during polls must stop,” among others.

Mr. Celestine Akpobari of Social Action, a non-governmental organisation in the state, who spoke for the  protesters, pleaded with Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure it gave Nigerians free and  fair elections.

According to him, names of voters should not be missing in the electoral body’s register for elections, adding that measures should be taken to deliver credible elections in the country.