Senate Chief Whip Orji Uzor Kalu has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to consider holding the 2023 general elections on the same day.

He said this would reduce cost and rigging.

Kalu said the presidential election, National Assembly, governorship and House of Assembly elections are better held simultaneously on the same day rather than holding them on different days.

A statement he personally signed in Abuja reads: “INEC should conduct the 2023 elections same day as staggered elections are unnecessarily expensive. The conduct of the elections in different days gives room for rigging, thuggery and several vices. It also puts the lives of the voters and INEC officials in intense danger.

“When elections are conducted on the same day, popular candidates will emerge because everyone will be busy in their polling units and zones, unlike on different days. The cost of running two days’ elections will also reduce.

“To deepen our democracy, we need to get the elections right. When leaders with genuine interests of the people are voted to power, they provide exceptional leadership and infrastructure to their people.”

Kalu, a former Abia State governor and first-time senator, was, in June, bestowed with the prestigious Senate award for constituency development in recognition of his impressive representation and expeditious implementation of constituency projects in his Abia North at the Senate Press Corps 2021 award ceremony.

Source:- The Nation