By ATABOR JULIUS, Lokoja
The ActionAid Nigeria has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to as a matter of urgency establish a National Election Offences Commission NEOC to bring to book individuals and corporate Organisations indulging in the perpetration of election violence against the state.
The ActionAid Nigeria gave the charge in its latest appraisal of the state of the Nation released on Sunday.
The statement, which was signed by the Communication Coordinator, Lola Iyanda and made available to Journalists, said , Vote trading has continued to feature in Nigeria’s elections and will remain to be so if perpetrators could go unpunished.
The statement noted that in addition to the establishment of the National Election Offences Commission , INEC adhoc staff should be retrained on how to operate the Biometric Voters’ Accreditation System (BVAS)
While charging INEC to take lessons from the Anambra polls and re-evaluate its readiness for subsequent elections, said there is need for the review and clean-up of the national electoral voters’ register for citizens to ascertain the real numbers of eligible voters across the country.
This is as it averred that the nation needs strong institutions capable of independent interpretation and implementation of public policy objectives , urged Government to match its policy on poverty with action.
The statement explained further, that the anti-corruption fight should go beyond the focus on the politicians but also beam its light on the public servants and banks.
She advised for a commensurate sanctions to be meted out to perpetrators of corruption and corrupt acts to serve as a deterrent to others as a way of forestalling the culture of wrong doing in public offices.
It described bullying in schools as unacceptable culture, and warned school administrators, parents and relevant government educational authorities to create functional mechanism for reporting and dealing appropriately with the act to kick it out of our schools for the safety of the children.
Accordingly , the Executive arm of government needs to be more responsible with the use of state power in such a way that its conduct will not be seen to be coloured by partisan politicking.
“Although, certain individuals have been arrested in connection with the invasion of the residence of a supreme court judge, the case must be followed to a logical conclusion to ensure that justice is served.
“Nigeria needs to tackle the growing construction of structurally distressed buildings that endanger Nigerians by cracking down on unscrupulous real estate developers. “The Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria – CORBON, whose function is to establish and oversee the construction industry and coordinate its development must work with other critical stakeholders to ensure stricter measures to enforce regulation in the building and construction sector.
“The Nigerian government should leverage advanced ICT to combat crime and criminality. Bandits committing heinous crimes against the Nigerian state must be treated as terrorists to enable the military to adopt the necessary rule of engagements against them.
“The implementation of the recommendations of the Judicial Panels set up across the country to investigate the SARS related abuses and other matters presents an opportunity for the current administration to take a strong stand against human rights violations in the country.
“This includes disciplinary actions and dismissal of security officials indicted in the investigations as well as the immediate release of citizens arrested during the protests and compensation of those found to have been abused.
“The Federal Government through the National Orientation Agency should intensify the campaign on COVID-19 vaccination and co-opt religious and traditional rulers as champions to reduce misconceptions and myths surrounding the vaccination especially in the face of the emergent Omicron variant”, the statement emphasised.
While calling on the Federal Government to promptly implement all contents of the FGN/ASUU agreement, urging her to declare a state of emergency on education to rebuild it and ensure that the children of the poor get quality education.(Sunday Independent)
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