Youth leaders urge Nigerians to vote for politicians with ideology, integrity

Call for extension of voter’s registration

Nigerians have been charged to desist from choosing leaders based on tribal, religious or party sentiments, but rather vote for leaders with integrity, ideas and plans that would guarantee a better Nigeria.

They also intensified the call for the extension of the August 17, 2018 closure date for voter’s registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which they insist, could disenfranchise millions of Nigerians if not reversed.

A young presidential aspirant, Mr. Eniola Ojajuni, who spoke with The Guardian yesterday, said lack of ideas and integrity among political office holders was largely responsible for under-development across the country.

According to him, the old power bloc have failed the citizens, hence the need for Nigerians to give the youths opportunity to rebuild the nation.He said: “The Nigerian youths at this critical time of our nationhood have for the first time decided to challenge the status quo and raise a voice against the epileptic leadership that has been witnessed over the years. The nation urgently needs to be purged of corrupted old hands, and replaced with vibrant ones with integrity.

“This is our best chance to come together as civil society organisations, youth groups, students and other stakeholders in the new Nigerian dream to end the era of leadership recycling in the country that has been responsible for our stunted growth and
development. The only way we can do that is to go out en-masse to register and ensure collection of our Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs), which is our power to decide.”

Also, former Chairman of Amuwo-Odofin Local Council of Lagos State, Mr. Ayodele Adewale, has reiterated that the future of the country is dependent on the outcome of the 2019 general elections, hence the urgent need for INEC to extend the registration exercise to ensure majority of Nigerians are not disenfranchised.

He urged INEC to deploy more sophisticated technology and people with capacity to registration process.“I beckon on INEC to elongate the date for registration because a lot of Nigerians are yet to be registered,” he said.In the same vein, Convener, Youth Take Over Movement and G-37 Coalition, Gabriel Ashibi, charged the electoral body to build and regain the confidence of Nigerians by extending the voter’s registration, which he said, was an assurance to a better Nigeria.