YOUTHS TOLD TO CONDUCT THEMSELVES IN A PEACEFUL MANNER DURING GUBER ELECTION IN NIGER,,Says Nma Kolo.
The Special Adviser to Niger state Governor on Political Matters, Alh Nma Kolo has called on citizens to come out enmasse and exercise their rights peacefully in the forthcoming Governorship and Houses of Assembly election.
The top government aide gave the charge in an interview with journalists in his office in Minna.
Hon Nma Kolo said it was the responsibility of every vote aging citizen with a voters card to exercise his or her right without molestation or intimidation as this will go a long way in deepening democracy.
He said the turnout of the last presidential election was not encouraging, taking cognizance of the number of registered voters and those who actually voted.
He said “we have about 2.6 million registered voters but only slightly above 800,000 voted. This is too low in comparism. So I urged everyone to come out to exercise his or her rights peacefully”.
The special adviser called on youths to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner, adding that election was not something that should cause enmity or bitter division amongst the people.
He said “we have lived as brothers and sisters in this state. There’s no record of election violence that has caused serious division.
“All the contestants whether in PDP, APC, APGA or Labour Party came out to serve the people, they’re here to serve the interest of the state. And so we should not consider ourselves enemies wherever you belong. We are all here to serve Niger state.
“We are our brothers keepers and we must continue on this path for greater Niger”, he said.
The special adviser then commended Nigerlites for conducting themselves peacefully after the outcome of the presidential election and hoped same will be repeated in the governorship election.
On the allegations of rigging made by one of the opposition parties in the state, Alh Nma Kolo said there was no plan to rig any election.
He said the suspect who raised the false alarm was arrested by the police for giving false information. He said every political party has a right to set-up situation room and nothing incriminating was found there.
He called on Nigerlites to disregard any false alarm and conduct themselves in a peaceful manner.
The Independent Electoral Commission had yesterday announced the postponement of the Governorship and Houses of Assembly election to 18th March in what it says was inability to reconfigure BVAS machines on time.
