APC senatorial candidate, Bamidele tells INEC who to impress in 2019

Former House of Representatives member, Opeyemi Bamidele, has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to distance itself from impressing and massaging the ego of politicians before and during the 2019 general elections.

Bamidele said the electoral body should rather conduct itself and the election in a manner that would impress and leave Nigerians and the international community satisfied that an unbiased umpire allowed people’s votes to count.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate in Ekiti Central District spoke on Sunday at his Iyin Ekiti hometown during an event to appreciate Nigerians who were at the burial ceremonies for his late father, Pa Stephen Bamidele, on Friday.

Bamidele also urged politicians
across party lines to avoid conducts and statements capable of heating up the polity and truncating the country’s democracy as campaigns for the elections begin to gain momentum.

The former Lagos State commissioner said: “The coming elections should not be do-or-die. Nigerian voters should be given the free will to elect whoever they like, INEC shouldn’t come out to impress any politician, but Nigerians.

“Politicians must understand that all eyes are on Nigeria. The whole world is watching and we should not disappoint the confidence reposed in the country as the pacesetter in the African continent.

“Politicians in Nigeria are less than five per cent of the total population. So, it would be a great disservice to our dear nation for a few to plunge the entire nation into crisis just because they want to win election.

“Nigeria after 20 years of democratic practice should grow to the level that won’t make us a laughing stock in the comity of nations. We must uphold civility and imbibe the culture of issue based campaign, rather than making inflammatory comments and hate speech.

“I am particularly pleased that the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has set up a committee to monitor campaigns of parties. The Nigerian Broadcasting (NBC) and other regulatory bodies have started imposing sanctions on the appropriate places, all these will help in stabilizing the system and make our democracy works better.

“I am a contestant in the coming election, but I will campaign hard and gain the confidence of the people, rather than rolling out thugs and other powers to subdue my opposition to win election,” he said.