By Giwa SHILE
The Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Diocese of Lokoja has advised political stakeholders to ensure free, fair and credible elections on Feb. 16 and March 2.
JDPC gave the advice in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Diocesan office of the organisation, Rev. Fr. Leonard Odomeja in Lokoja on Wednesday.
“We want free, fair and credible elections in Kogi and we call on all stakeholders to conscientiously work toward ensuring this,“ Odomeja said.
He also appealed to voters to conduct themselves peacefully at the various polling units.
Odomeja, who noted that the world had shifted attention to Nigeria, for now, warned that the electoral process should not be brought into disrepute by the misconduct of a few.
He also advised against the purported idea of shutting down the telecommunication facilities in the state as being canvassed in some quarters.
The JDPC particularly advised Kogi government “not to hide under unpaid taxes to shut down telecommunication facilities before, during and after the elections.“
“The thought of it alone is evil. This government has shown in recent times, that it can shut down communications for days, so the fear that it could happen again during this election period is a valid one.
“We, therefore, call on the government of the day to prove the opposition wrong by ensuring that no such thing happens.
“We also call on the telecommunications service providers to ensure that they keep to their contractual agreements with the government in order to avoid any sanctions at this time.”——-NAN
