The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has urged politicians and
parties to focus more on how to realise their electoral goals in 2019
rather than paying attention to unnecessary issues.
The Lagos
State Chairman of IPAC, Mallam Shakirudeen Olofin, gave the advice in an
interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.
Olofin
was reacting to Thursday’s appointment of Mrs Amina Zakari by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its Head of
Collation Centre for the 2019 elections and to the criticisms it
generated in some quarters.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
has faulted Zakari’s appointment, saying it was a step by the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC) to subvert the will of the people in 2019.
In
a statement issued by the PDP spokesman, Mr Kola Ologbodiyan, on
Thursday, the party alleged that Zakari was a blood relation of
President Muhammadu Buhari.
Zakari’s new role, the party alleged, was to protect the president’s interests in 2019.
Olofin, however, said that the criticisms that had trailed Zakari’s appointment were unneccessary and mere distractions.
He
said politicians and parties should rather spend time perfecting their
strategies on winning the general elections rather than being
pre-occupied by issues that should not concern them.
“We think
the criticisms and controversies that have trailed the appointment of
Zakari are unnecessary because it is not within the powers of political
parties to appoint people for INEC.
“In a football match, the
teams do not decide or bother about who the referee is. It is never
done. Rather, they focus on how to win the match.
“The parties
should be more focused and leave all these distractions. They should be
on the drawing board planning for victory.They should leave INEC and
Zakari to do their jobs,” he said.
Furthermore, Olofin said it was unfair to claim Zakari got the appointment because she was the president’s blood relation.
He
pointed out that the she had always been in INEC where she even acted
as the Chairman of the commission after the exit of Prof. Attahiru Jega.
Olofin
added that IPAC believed Zakari’s appointment was not an aberration as
she had also headed the commission’s ICT Department, which, he said, was
related to her new responsibility.
The IPAC chairman urged
political stakeholders to co-operate with INEC to deliver credible
elections and refrain from acts that could create tension ahead of the
polls.
Olofin also advised all eligible voters to actively
participate in the electoral process to ensure the emergence of leaders
of their choice.
Share your thoughts