From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), yesterday, disclosed it had concluded arrangements to ensure individuals seeking political positions undergo thorough forensic examination across party platforms before and after elections.
IPAC also revealed that it had gone into advanced partnership with Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria to help strengthen capacity of political parties to conduct proper and professional due diligence on aspirants for various positions on various parties’ platforms.
IPAC’s National Chairman and African Action Congress (AAC) boss, Leonard Nzenwa, made the disclosure during a meeting between the political parties and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.
He expressed confidence that the effort will yield positive result as deep professional background checks on aspirants to ascertain their integrity, credibility and electoral worth, before and after polls with further scrutiny by security agencies and other stakeholders, will help the polity.
The council equally frowned at the spate of arsons going on at the commission’s offices and facilities across the country.
“We dare say we do not envy the staff, management and leadership of the commission at this crucial period in Nigeria’s political history as working in the commission has become one of the most hazardous job to undertake on account of attack it has suffered over the last few months.
“For we, the body of political parties that have jettison the habitual blame game of interdicting scapegoats for the electoral and democratic ills of our country, we see this braveness on the part of the Commission as the needed sacrifice to pay to sustain effort by stakeholders in the political ecosystem to build a country where not only democracy will be practiced without any hinderance but to support this quest with periodic credible, fair, free and inclusive elections.
“We are not also unaware of massive bashing by the political class in the country in recent months by Nigerians over crude behaviour and uncultured actions by some politicians who, in their bid to win elections, have deployed all kinds of unorthodox antics to cow opponents and threaten the system, including extremity of violence and killings that accompany it.
“As party managers, we have not swept these concerns under the carpet as we are convinced that why this have continued to thrive is partly on account of dearth of credible, quality, patriotic and selfless individuals with impeccable democratic credentials to drive the push for organic and representative democracy in the country.
“To this end, the IPAC, which I am privileged to lead is in advanced partnership discussion stage with the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria to help strengthen capacity of political parties to conduct proper and professional due diligence on aspirants seeking to contest various positions on the platforms of the various parties in the country before and after elections.
“We are hopeful that this effort will yield positive result as deep professional background checks exercised on aspirants to ascertain their integrity, credibility and electoral worth before and after polls with further scrutiny by security agencies and other stakeholders will help the polity.”