"Nigerians will police their votes in 2019 elections" - SDP Chieftain

SDP's governorship aspirant in Cross River state, Barrister Eyo.O. Ekpo, has called on Nigerians to police their votes in the 2019 general elections. 

He made the statement at the party's national headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, August 29, when he picked up his expression of interest and nomination form to contest for governorship in Cross River state.

Ekpo, a former commissioner in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said the 2019 election is “more than selling out our votes or going to thumbprint and go home.”

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He said: “The INEC has in the public eyes tried their best in increasing in performance over the years, the ground would be neutral we would make sure of that.

“At the end of the day we citizens are the ultimate police men of our vote not INEC, I will use this medium to call on Nigerians to know that our vote are important if they are not we won’t be paid to buy our votes.”

Speaking on his ambition, he said: “I am here today as a member of SDP, to pick up the form to indicate my seriousness of being the candidate of the governorship election taking place next year.

“To give the people of Cross River state the right leadership they desire for over the years now, and I believe that on the platform of SDP we would have not only a governorship candidate of credibility and capability but also a group of people that would serve in the house of Assembly next year.

“Today is the beginning of that step and I really appreciate the party for this opportunity.”

Asked what his priorities are as he contests for the number one office in Cross River state, Ekpo said he will re-establish the connection between the people and the government and strengthen the basic social welfare pillars that uphold the people in the state.

He promised to restore the basics of infrastructure in the state, adding that the “Cross River government has forgotten our basics which are fundamental for growth in any society.”

Meanwhile, Nigeria's minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has clarified that he won't run for political office in 2019.

The minister stated this at a political summit organized by the Kwara chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ilorin, the state capital, on Thursday, August 9. 

He called on members of the party to subordinate individual ambitions to collective efforts in order to defeat the ruling PDP in the state.