By KEMI KASUMU
Nigerian electorates have been commended for turning out to vote in the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections held on Saturday across the country.
The Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria (MMWG) made the commendation while commenting on on the polls.
It, however, called for immediate and diligent prosecution of all those arrested for electoral crimes all over the federation.
The DEFENDER reports that Saturday March 18, 2023 elections in particularly Lagos, Benue and Rivers were marred with what Arise News described as raw violence and thuggery, as cases of electoral malpractices and killings were reported in both states including persons either lynched or shot dead for ballot snatching.
But in a press release signed by the National Coordinator of the Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria, Mallam Ibrahim Abdullahi, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies were commended by the group, on what it called the success of the election
Mallam Abdullahi pointed out that both the electoral and security officials performed creditably well.
The MMWG, therefore, appealed to all aggrieved to accept results of the elections as released by the INEC in line with the peace accord usually signed before the elections were held.
The Group stated that those, who committed electoral crimes and has been arrested in the two elections held throughout the federation this year must not be freed but tried appropriately in the courts of law.
It warned that in all elections held in the country so far, prosecution and punishment for election offences have been non-existent; adding that this year’s elections “must not go same way as we now have revised Electoral Law that punishes electoral offences.
It also called on the Ninth National Assembly to pass the Bill submitted by the Executive for the establishment of National Electoral Offences’ Commission (NEOC) before the end of its tenure.
On vote-buying, the Group commended President Muhammadu Buhari on his fight against corruption including vote-buying. It, however, called on him to give a presidential order immediately to the Central Bank of Nigeria to end the artificial scarcity created by the CBN on new and old Naira scarcity.
Muslim Media Watch Group stated further that with the elections now over, barricade of gates of commercial banks and lock-out of bank customers must come to an end from Monday 20th March, 2023 as Nigerians of all categories have been highly tormented and humiliated with difficulties for the past six weeks accessing their money in the banks.
It stated further that “only God could save most Nigerians medical dangers arising from the hardship imposed on them by CBN for its decision not to fund Comnercial Banks sufficiently even after the Supreme Court Judgement since 3rd March this year.”
*With the Elections being over – the Group maintained, the fear of State Governments and Parties Top Functionaries using money to buy votes is over; therefore there is no excuse for CBN to ‘purnish’ innocent Nigerians by not releasing sufficient cash to Commercial Banks whether old or new Notes.
“On the low turn-out of voters in the yesterday’s election, the Group attributed it to lack of confidence in our democratic system by the people; adding that most Parties Primaries that produced most of the contestants were full of infractions and shaddy deals; warning that for democracy to survive in Nigeria, there must be Political and Judicial Reforms. It therefore tasked the incoming Administration to tackle the problems holistically and decisively,” the statement said.
