‘INEC needs overhaul, for credible 2019 polls ’

President and presiding bishop of Amazing Grace Pentecostal Church, Mrs. Chioma Dauji, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to begin the change mantra of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by overhauling the current leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the 2019 general elections.

Speaking at the 32 annual convention and thanksgiving of the church in Lagos, Dauji stated the urgent need for Buhari to address the citizenry on the way forward for Nigeria.

According to her, Nigerians have lost faith in INEC and the electoral process, and until the president addresses these issues, there would be voter apathy in 2019.

Speaking on women’s participation in politics, she bemoaned the marginalisation of women in the political sphere.

Men, she asserted, has disappointed the people; hence women should be given chance to see if there would be real positive change.

Dauji, therefore, charged politicians to lead in the fear of God, as they would be accountable to him at the end of time.

With hope for a better country, she urged Nigerians to exercise their civic rights by voting in the coming election.

She said: “It will take God for elections to be free and fair in this country. People have lost hope in INEC. I think the change should begin with the change of INEC. Without this, the coming election cannot be free and fair.

“The president should look into the affairs of this nation; many people are in tears because the suffering is too much. We need him to tell us the way forward. From now till the next election, we still have time; even a day can change things. Let him come and assure us that there is still hope for the people.

“Most people are discouraged because they think their votes do not count. Even if they do not count to man, they count to God. You are not by accident a Nigerian; it was God who made you one. So, do your civic duty to vote. What happens after the vote the becomes God’s business.”