Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2019 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police, as well as other security agencies and organisations that are directly or remotely involved in the conduct of election to see the elections holding tomorrow (Saturday) in Kogi and Bayelsa states as opportunities to redeem the bartered image of Nigeria as a country incapable of conducting free and fair elections.

He gave the advice yesterday during the 7th anniversary lecture of News Express at held at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

Recalling the gains Nigeria recorded from the conduct of elections during the immediate past Goodluck Jonathan Administration, Obi said that it restored the hope of Nigerians on elections as a means of freely expressing their franchise as against what he called the “return to kangaroo elections marred by violence and all that was vile” as recorded during the last election.

He insisted that free and fair conduct of Saturday’s elections would restore hope to the country, adding: “Besides, it would also encourage well-meaning Nigerians to join in the future elections.”

Concluding, Obi, who was the Guest Speaker at the event, said: “As has become the norm in many countries, the issue of electoral malpractice is becoming a thing of the past. As the giant of Africa, Nigeria ought to be showing example to other African countries by encouraging free and fair election and allowing candidates with the highest vote cast to emerge winners.”