BY PAUL ODENYI

Abuja- National Chairman of All Nigerian Peoples Party, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has called on the National Assembly to tinker with the Electoral Act to ensure that all elective positions are held simultaneously in subsequent elections.

The party’s chairman also advised that all issues arising from election petitions must be settled before candidates are sworn in into various offices.

Dr. Onu, while receiving the House of Representatives Committee on Inter and Intra ‘Party Relations, noted that elections were almost marred by several irregularities. He said the nation will gain more if the standard of election is improved.

He said: “The National Assembly has a role to work on the Electoral Act, to maintain the standard we met in the last election and to ensure that the coming elections are free and fair.

“If all elections should be made to hold on the same day, the cost of elections will come down drastically. Second, the bandwagon effect will be removed, this is because it violates the principles of free choice. Bandwagon effect encourages voter- apathy and people do not fully participate in the electoral process.

“Again, when you conduct all elections the same time, you will find out that almost everybody have one interest or the other. This makes it impossible for electoral fraud to take place because people will be ready to defend their votes.

“Also anything that has to do with the election must be settled before anybody is sworn in. It will help to ensure that you do not abuse your office. It will also provide the needed concentration which a leader needs to ensure that he performs in the office.”

The ANPP National Chairman said that even if it requires constitutional amendment by the National Assembly to ensure that Nigeria is fixed, they should always put Nigeria ahead in all their deliberations.

“The minute we hold free and fair election, Nigeria will develop at an amazing rate, because people will know that their choice is actually the one in office,” he said.

The leader of the delegation, Fort Dike said that the Inter and Intra party relation committee was established for the purpose of ensuring a proper relationship with all political parties and to monitor and make periodic reports to the National Assembly on the development in the parties.

He said that the committee will also ensure that political parties being the platform by which all elected leaders and government come to power should always implement and follow the various manifestoes of the parties.

“Some of these people are elected under the manifestoes of the party, but once they are elected they jettison the party. Parties must be faithful to their manifestoes,” Dike added.