Coalition of presidential candidates brainstorm on peaceful 2019 elections

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

A coalition of presidential candidates from different political parties under the aegis of Patriotic Forum of Presidential Candidates (PFPC) has commenced strategic meeting on how to ensure a peaceful and transparent election in 2019.
Briefing journalists Wednesday after their inaugural meeting in Abuja, the Forum, led by Breakforth Onwubuya, said the group plans to engage the government to do more on the current state of internal security for the wellbeing of Nigerians and guarantee credible electoral process before, during and after the 2019 general elections.
Onwubuya, who is the presidential candidate of Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said the Forum will interface with the law enforcement agencies to be neutral, particularly the Nigerian police, not to interface with the electoral process or allow itself to be used by any group or person to influence election results in favour of any particular candidate.
He also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to play its constitutional role as an unbiased and neutral umpire throughout the 2019 general elections. “They must also ensure that all eligible voters that are not yet registered are duly registered and that they have their PVCs ready for the elections”, he said.
In addition to this, Onwubuya said the Forum is craving the indulgence of the international community and Nigerians in diaspora to pay adequate attention and support to Nigeria at this critical time, when the nation is about to go to poll to elect new set of democratic leaders.
He promised to engage the media to provide cheaper and equal level playing ground to all candidate, especially pay attention to credible electoral reporting, he said, adding “the overall objective of the forum is to advocate and ensure the delivery of free, fair, credible and violence free election in 2019”.
He said it is most important to have Nigeria united as individual entity after the polls, disclosing that the forum has about forty presidential candidates out of the 79 who have subscribed to it, adding that more will join soon as their agenda is not selfish but national interest.
Some of the presidential candidates present were: Shittu Mohammed, APDA, Yusuf Dantalle, APM, Obadiah Mailafia, ADC, Danjuma Muhammed, MRDD, and Chima Benjamin, PCD.