By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
Ahead of 2027 election,non-partisan socio-political group, the Igbo Agenda Dialogue, (IAD), led by Chief Chekwas Okorie, has sent a strong solidarity message to all presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 general election, urging them to choose issue-based campaigns and warning against electoral manipulation.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued on Monday and signed jointly by Chief Okorie as Convener\/National Chairman and Jonathan Elendu as Executive Secretary, the group congratulated candidates of all political parties and noted \u0175ith delight that most candidates in their acceptance speeches identified key areas requiring urgent attention to develop, secure, and unite Nigerians despite ethnic, religious, and sectional diversities.<\/p>\n
The IAD described the 2027 general elections as promising to witness robust and vibrant electioneering campaigns.
\nThe group said the presidential contest will expectedly become an epic encounter that will test Nigeria\u2019s democratic maturity.<\/p>\n
The organisation urged politicians and their supporters to remain focused on issues, rather than engaging in attacks on opponents and cautioned that the contestants should avoid acerbic and inflammatory rhetoric that could inflame tensions across the country.<\/p>\n
The group also addressed the Independent National Electoral Commission, saying INEC has the onerous task of delivering credible, transparent, free and fair elections.
\nIt reminded INEC that Nigerians and the international community expect nothing less than credible elections and that the world is watching the process closely.<\/p>\n
IAD also called on security agencies not to allow themselves to be compromised.
\nIt noted that Nigeria currently has several flashpoints and citizens are restive due to many existential challenges, making the neutrality and professionalism of security agencies critical.<\/p>\n
The group warned that politicians, INEC, and security agencies must not exacerbate an “already incendiary and potentially explosive polity through their actions and utterances.” <\/p>\n
It stressed that restraint from all actors is necessary at this time and added that it had already embarked on nationwide advocacy to encourage eligible citizens to register during INEC\u2019s ongoing last phase of continuous voters registration. <\/p>\n
The organisation urged Nigerians to come out en-masse in January and February 2027 to vote for candidates and parties of their choice.<\/p>\n
The group called on similar organisations to join the patriotic effort to mobilise voters and strengthen democratic participation ahead of the polls, emphasising that mass participation remains key to credible outcomes.
\nFinally, the IAD cautioned that any attempt to manipulate the electoral process or shortchange the electorate during and after the elections could result in uncontrollable anarchy and it warned that such actions may threaten the very foundation of the country.<\/p>\n
“The Independent National Electoral Commission has the onerous tasks to deliver to Nigerians credible, transparent, free, and fair elections. Nigerians expect nothing less. The world is watching. <\/p>\n
“Security agencies must not allow themselves to be compromised. Nigeria currently has several flash points, and the citizens are restive at this time as a result of many existential challenges. “Politicians, the INEC, and security agencies must not exacerbate an already incendiary and potentially explosive polity by their actions and utterances,” the IAD, which is a non-partisan socio-political and prodemocracy organisation warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent Ahead of 2027 election,non-partisan socio-political group, the Igbo Agenda Dialogue, (IAD), led by Chief Chekwas Okorie, has sent a strong solidarity message to all presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 general election, urging them to choose issue-based campaigns and warning against electoral manipulation. In a statement issued on Monday and signed jointly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14228,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14226\/revisions\/14228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}