In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the AC said it was neither shocked nor surprised to read that Nigeria ranked 130th in the 2009 Corruption Perception Index of the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, compared to the previous ranking of 121 in 2008.
"As we have always said, you cannot have genuine democracy without electoral integrity and there can be no transparency without genuine democracy. That means electoral integrity is the foundation of transparency and good governance," it said.
AC said a government that was rigged into office definitely lacked legitimacy and that without legitimacy, no government can wage a successful war against corruption.
The party said an illegitimate government would not feel it owed the people any responsibility, after all they did not vote for it and it could do without them.
Such governments are only accountable to those who rig them into power, it said.
"Again, we make bold to say that the root cause of this illegitimacy is lack of electoral integrity. It is the reason why Nigeria holds the world record among nations with the highest number of people without integrity holding elective or appointive posts," it said.
AC noted further: "It is not by accident that the countries that are rated highly by Transparency International, including New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland, are among the world's most stable democracies, countries where the rule of law is not a cliche but a reality.
"Even in Africa, the three top rated countries - Botswana, Mauritius and Cape Verde - are among the most stable on the continent. The correlation between the practice of genuine democracy."
AC said it was imperative for the current clamour for electoral reforms in Nigeria to succeed, so that the country could set the stage for the enthronement of genuine democracy, which would in turn breed transparency and good governance.
Lagos - 18/11/2009
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