Nigeria must amend electoral laws to deepen democracy- Secondus

The National chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, on Tuesday called for the amendment of the nation’s electoral laws to guarantee free, fair and credible elections in the future.

The PDP chairman stated this while hosting a delegation of International Republican Institute (IRI) at the PDP National Secretariat on Tuesday.

According to him, it will be a herculean task conducting credible elections in the country with the existing laws.

Secondus said: “One of the areas we are looking forward to in our country is our electoral processes and laws. We believe that they are antiquated now and they need amendment. We need to improve our voting patterns and the reporting of results from voting points and transmission processes. They are all embodied in the electoral processes and amendments.

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“Without that, it will be difficult for us to think about contesting any election because previous experiences have been terrible and horrifying. If people do not have the right to vote, what is the essence of election? People must come out of their houses to register and vote. They must have the right to go out there to vote and then be safe.

“The people in government in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) as well as security agencies are denying their rights. As we speak, both the legislature and judiciary have been caged and they are taking directive from the Presidential Villa. So these are areas that we need the collaboration of IRI and other international agencies.”

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