Buhari made his stand known
while inaugurating the new helmsmen of the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari,
yesterday, called for punitive measures against perpetrators of electoral
malpractices, saying it was not enough to cancel polls and order fresh ones.
He also called for the
overhauling of the justice administrative system, stressing that unless
electoral offenders were sanctioned, the system would not be made right.
The new INEC chairman,
Professor Mammud Yakubu, has said that he was not a stooge to anybody even as
he pledged his commitment to the Electoral Act.
The new INEC officials
included Professor Mammud Yakubu (Chairman), National Commissioners: Mrs. Amina
Zakari, Mr. Solomon Adedeji Soyebi, Prof. Antonia Taiye Okoosi-Simbine, Dr.
Muhammed Mustafa Lecky and Alhaji Baba Shettima Arfo.
According to President
Buhari, “another area of concern is the justice administration of the electoral
tribunals. It is long overdue that our justice system addresses these
shortcomings. It is not just enough for an election to be cancelled and a new
one ordered.
“It would be much better if
all whose actions or inactions led to the cancellation of such election to be
investigated and if culpable prosecuted whether they are individuals as
candidates or party agents, institutions such as political party, electoral
body, or public officers as electoral staff or security agents.
“Similarly, perpetrators of
electoral violence and thuggery should not be spared. Unless our system stops
covering up all forms of electoral malpractices we can hardly get it right. No
system endures with impunity.”
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