The executive secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, weekend, called on Nigerians to renew their commitment to strengthening democracy in Nigeria.
A press statement signed by the director, Corporate Affairs and External Linkages, Mr. Obinna Nwakonye, stated that Ojukwu made the call to commemorate the 2024 Democracy Day.
He commended the resilience of Nigerians in their quest for democratic governance which clearly manifested in the repeated elections that have taken place since the return of democracy in 1999.
He decried the challenges which seem to threaten the effective democratic processes in the country, such as elections marred by violence, ballot box snatching, killings, vote buying, intimidation of electorate, hate-speech and non/irregular elections into the local government council by state governments.
While assuring Nigerians of the commission’s continuous interventions in strengthening the democratic process, the human rights scribe, called on relevant stakeholders to join hands in doing all that is required before, during and after elections in order to further deepen democracy in Nigeria.
“As a commission, we shall continue to play our role in monitoring democracy in Nigeria and also safeguarding the rights of eligible Nigerians to freely participate in democratic processes,” the learned silk stated.
