‎Election offenders must be punished- Buhari

All those who engage in election riggging and violence must be punished according to the law, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has said.

Buhari said this while reacting to ballots snatching and electoral violence recorded in Rivers, Edo and Lagos states during an interview Saturday in his residence in Daura, Katsina state.

 He said that law enforcement agencies that undermine the constitution by indulging in rigging and violence during elections must be exposed and punished.

He said he will lobby the National Assembly to ensure that relevant sections of the constitution and Electoral Act are amended to ensure that election offenders are adequately punished. 

On election offenders, Buhari said “I will look for understanding and cooperation from the National Assembly where a change of the constitution or Electoral Act is necessary.”

He said he will ensure that Justice Muhammad Uwais Report on Electoral Matters will be implemented. “I will say that I haven’t read the Uwais report, but I have read a few of the extracts from the papers, I think it is a good thing and we will encourage it,” he said.

He however added that “but we need to get a comprehensive report from the field. The running battle from Rivers, the Southeast and the rest of the South south, especially by Governor Amaechi, Rochas Okorocha and Governor of Edo State with INEC officials and law enforcement agencies including the Army is remarkable and I think it has to be totally exposed so that Nigerians will know which of the law enforcement agencies and at what levels  are undermining the constitution of Nigeria.”

He said “because the Electoral Act is derived from the constitution of the country so that in future, those who are in position will know that they are not beyond the law. I think that is what will bring more stability into the system. In view of that, I will try and work with the National Assembly to make sure that we do something about it.”

He said there was less disruptions in this elections than in the presidential poll, saying “what I saw was that there was a few ballot snatching in some local government areas in Bayelsa and a few disruptions in Adamawa state, but that is nothing near to what happened two weeks ago. I don’t think it is up to 25 percent of what happened two weeks ago?”

He added that “after the elections, both parties, APC and PDP will perhaps make their representations to INEC or the courts and then more details will emerge.”

“What we hear about the money that changed hands in this country, it would have been impossible for APC to win anything in this country because we don’t have any treasury in our pocket. There was no amount of money that could convince Nigerians this time around. A lot of them took the money and did exactly what their conscience wanted them to do, while some even returned the money,” he said.

He said the PDP is desperate in taking over Lagos and Rivers. “Somehow, Rivers and Lagos were somehow seen as strategic to the PDP. Otherwise, how can APC have a marginal 100,000 votes over APC in Lagos which is virtually the capital of the APC in the Southwest. A lot of things will come out, but we want to do it basically on facts which can be verified and quantified,” the president-elect said.

On the crisis in Rivers, Lagos, he said “I have just told you about three governors and the battle they have with the law enforcement agents in their states. We discussed and advised them to try and document these things legally so that it can be taken before the court and we will make sure that we register the cooperation of the court so that people who work against the law are prosecuted, especially those who have lost their immunity especially those who think they have immunity because this is the best way to stabilize the system.

“People must not benefit from being lawless. You can’t be in a position by virtue of the constitution, subvert the constitution and continue to enjoy the privileges offered by the constitution. I don’t think that will be acceptable by the APC. So, whether you are in the opposition or the government, you have to behave yourself. I think that is the way we can make progress,” he said.