By OUR REPORTER
In furtherance to his preparedness to bequeath a free, fair and credible transition election process that will enable Nigerians choose their next President through Saturday’s presidential election to succeed him, President Muhammadu Buhari has warned against riots or acts of violence after the announcement of the poll results.
The president also insisted that he would be neutral and allow the usual rule of law (with which he has governed the country for the past eight years although abused by some elements in the country), to take precedence over political expediency.
Buhari gave the warning on Thursday February 23, 2023 in a statement via his verified Twitter handle.
He advised that all grievances, personal or institutional, be channelled to relevant courts.
The President reminded Nigerians that “today (February 23) marks one year” since he signed the Electoral Act 2022.
Buhari noted that the act was one of the most important legacies of his administration, adding that it has made a significant contribution to improving quality of the country’s electoral process.
He said, “Since my assumption of office, we have worked so hard to ensure that we pass on a legacy of free, fair, credible, safe, and peaceful elections. We will continue to act with neutrality and allow the rule of law to take precedence over political expediency.
“Saturday, February 25, 2023, will make it exactly one year since I assented to the Electoral Act 2022, one of the most important legacies of our Administration, and a significant contribution to our vision of improving the quality of Nigeria’s electoral process.
“There should be no riots or acts of violence after the announcement of the election results. All grievances, personal or institutional, should be channelled to the relevant Courts.”
Recap
The DEFENDER recalls that in the buildup to 2019 general elections in which he was standing to be re-elected, President Muhammadu Buhari had equally warned against situation where Nigerians would not be allowed to elect candidates of their choice.
He always asked his party, APC, to work harder to win, especially while address a party caucus meeting where he said, “I think we should all go back to our loyal, committed people in all constituencies so that if anything happens, we would have nobody to blame.
“We have to tell our constituencies that they have to be patient and must react in a very responsible way by going peacefully to vote again and that they should depend on the party representatives in each polling units out of 176,000 polling units, those who have been given responsibility to watch the interest of the party.
“I do not expect anybody to make any disturbance. I have briefed the law enforcement agencies and the military. They have identified hotspots, flashpoints, they should be prepared to move, they too have made arrangements as possible and resourceful provided the country can afford it.
“Anybody, who decides to snatch boxes or lead thugs to disturb it, maybe that is the last lawful exchange that the person will take. I really briefed the military and the police to be ruthless. We are not going to be blamed that you want to rig election. I want Nigerians to be respected. Let them vote whoever they want across the parties.
“I am not afraid, as we said, I went the whole 36 states and Abuja. I think I have got enough support across the country to look after me.
“So, I am going to warn anybody who thinks he has enough influence in his locality to lead a body of thugs to snatch boxes or to disturb the voting system, he will do it at the expense of his own life. Thank you,” President Buhari was recalled to have also said even when he was seeking re-election in 2019.
