Ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Kogi state, stakeholders have tasked political parties and their candidates to embark on issue based campaign and shun violence and intimidation throughout the electioneering period.
This was part of positions reached by participants at a one day engagement for stakeholders from Kogi East senatorial district on “Integrity and Community Ownership in the Fight Against Corruption and Transparency” organised by Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR) on Friday.
The stakeholders posited that restriction on erecting political billboards and other campaign materials by the Kogi State Signage Agency in Lokoja is lopsided and favours the ruling party.
According to them, this policy shrinks participation in the political space, which is against the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
They called on participating political parties to join the legal campaign to reverse the restriction on posting of campaign materials such as billboards and posters
According to the communiqué issued at the end the summit, the stakeholders said citizen groups must be courageous and bold in demanding for accountability and transparency on elections at State level as this is their constitutional rights and responsibility.
They also called on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to, as a matter of urgency, engage citizens on where, when and how to collect their permanent voters card (PVC).
The stakeholders observed that evidence abound that the out-going administration in the State may not conduct Local Government elections before December 14th 2023, as stipulated by the 1999 Constitution as Amended, that at least 150 days notice shall be given to participating political parties before the polls.
