President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that there would be no interference in Saturday’s election in Bayelsa and Kogi states.
This is even as Buhari has demanded that law enforcement agencies remain non-partisan in their conduct in the two states.
“Law enforcement officials must ensure that citizens are allowed to vote without harassment and intimidation and any attempt to steal or hijack ballots must be stopped using all legal means,” Buhari said in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
The president also called on candidates to be willing to accept the outcome of the results and not resort to self help, saying in any election, there must be a winner and loser.
Said Buhari: “On Saturday November 16, voters in Bayelsa and Kogi, will be left alone to decide who takes charge of the administration of their states for the next four years. Since the ban on campaigns was lifted a few weeks ago, their citizens have been called to attend political rallies of various hues and were bombarded with advertising on bill boards, radio and TV, texts, tweets, WhatsApp and Facebook posts in campaigns that sadly, have so far recorded not a few uninspiring incidents of violence and of intemperate use of language.
“I call on voters in Bayelsa and Kogi States to exercise their franchise in a peaceful and orderly manner and in line with the law in all situations.
“In all democratic elections, there are bound to be winners and losers and the elections in Bayelsa and Kogi will not be different. All candidates should be ready to accept the outcomes and wherever they are dissatisfied, they should follow the due process of the law in seeking redress. There must not be a resort to self-help.”
The president wished the two states and their peoples a safe and credible election.
Meanwhile, elder statesman and frontline politician, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has said that President Buhari should not be blamed for the country’s economic current woes.
Iwuanyanwu who spoke, at the fourth edition of “Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu annual lecture Series” organized by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), yesterday, at Ahiajoku Convention Center, Owerri, blamed Nigerians for abdicating their duties as citizens
He said it was wrong to blame President Buhari for the current problems of the country, noting that any person elected as president of Nigeria under the current system will have similar problems.
“I feel President Buhari and his team must pause for a while, check the journey so far from 1999, and decide on the direction to move,”Iwuanyanwu said.
According to him, a lot needed to be done to get Nigeria out of its present economic crisis.
Iwuanyanwu decried the high level of poverty and unemployment and appealed to federal and state governments to establish at least one industry in every local government area.
“These industries should be given to experts to manage. They should target essential goods for local consumption, and goods for exports,” Iwuanyanwu said.
Governor Emeka Ihedioha of Imo, in his speech, blamed NSE, especially the Imo branch, for their lackadaisical approach in dealing with ex-governor Rochas Okorocha as it concerns fake and substandard projects
