Elections Must Hold As Scheduled – Newspaper Proprietors

The Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has insisted that the March 28 and April 11 general elections must be free, fair and credible.

There are fears in certain quarters that the rescheduled elections will not hold, fuelling speculations that an Interim Government might be in the offing.

But the association, in a communique issued at the end of an extra-ordinary meeting yesterday in Abuja, said “The general election must hold on March 28 and April 11 as scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”, adding that “the election must produce an outcome and Nigerians must rally around whoever emerges the winner”.

The communique signed by its president and Publisher of Thisday newspaper, Nduka Obaigbena, arrived at the position after exhaustive deliberations and a review of the political situation in the country.

The communique stated further that the elections are for and by the Nigerian people and they must be free, fair and held in such a way that they will strengthen the nation’s democracy such that, at the end of the electoral process, Nigeria will be the winner.

NPAN described the prevalent do-or-die attitude to politicking as “unnecessary, unhelpful and unhealthy” to the nation’s democracy, and, therefore, called on Nigerians, especially political leaders across the nation, to eschew every form of violence before, during and after the election.