By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
The National Legal Adviser of Accord party, Barrister Maxwell Mgbudem, has said the outcome of the Saturday governorship election in Osun state will inspire confidence in many Nigerians to participate in the 2023 general election.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, Mgbudem who is also the Deputy National Chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), charged electoral stakeholders to imbibe a political disposition which will guarantee peaceful and credible exercise acceptable to all.
With hindsight on the outcome of the Osun governorship election, he emphasized the need for politicians and other key stakeholders, including the security agencies and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to resist all pressure and seek to uphold free and fair contests in every election.
This, he said, is the only way Nigerians can accept the outcome of elections as true reflection of the wish of the majority, even as he condemned the increasing menace of vote buying by politicians, which he charged the law enforcement agents to always apprehend anyone culpable, irrespective of social status.
He also said Accord has a viable and popular Presidential candidate in the 2023 election, just as he charged voters to reject the temptation of selling their votes for financial reward.
Mgbudem rather enjoined them to vote their conscience based on the candidates they consider to have the capacity to bring development and succor in line with their yearnings and aspirations.
While he cautioned against the danger of conflagration which may arise from any attempt to subvert the popular choice of the voters in 2023 considering the increasing awareness of citizens, Mgbudem explained that democracy is worthless if it does not reflect the desire and true mandate of the majority of the citizens.
To this end, he challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Civil Society Organization (CSOs), police, Civil Defense, political parties, politicians, local and international election observers, to always be on guard and ensure that voters are not disenfranchised, the exercise starts as at when scheduled, and that the outcome is acceptable to all participants.
This, he said, is the least that Nigerians will accept in subsequent elections, adding that anything short of it will be a call to anarchy, which may threaten Nigeria’s unity.
