President Muhammadu Buhari has warned Nigerians not to vote for leaders that would drag the country back to corrupt practices that his administration has addressed.
Speaking at the Presidential Advisary Committee Against Corruption ( PACAC) conference themed: “Fighting corruption in Nigeria” in Abuja, yesterday, he decried the havoc corruption had done to the country saying his administration was leaving behind a legacy of zero-tolerance for corruption for future generations.
The president, represented at the event by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said more would be achieved if families, schools, religious leaders, role models and our traditional institutions demonstrate genuine interest and commitment to the fight against corruption.
“In a matter of weeks, Nigerians will need to go to the polls again to elect their leaders in the general elections. I beseech Nigerians to reject politicians who would drag our country back to the dark ages in which corruption was made the order of the day. As I leave office in a matter of months, I have left behind a legacy of zero-tolerance for corruption for our teaming youths and to every citizen. For me, corruption is evil and must be vehemently rejected in all ramifications by all Nigerians anywhere, anytime. It is by integrity, respect for rule of law, due process and genuine patriotism that we will make Nigeria the nation of our dream,” he said.
Chairman of PACAC, Prof. Itse Sagay accused the judiciary of not showing much commitment in the war against corruption. He said though the war against corruption was not easy, the battle has to be sustained till the ugly trend is eradicated.
He regretted that the judiciary had not shown true commitment to the war against corruption.
“I apologise to the numerous judges in this country who have demonstrated their commitment to the struggle only to find their patriotic efforts set aside and dismantled at the highest level. This re-occuring phenomenon has no doubt dampened the enthusiasm of the lower courts,” he said.
Meanwhile, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami has assured that the president was committed to free, fair election.
He stated this, yesterday, in his keynote address during the 2022 Media Conference of National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC) with the theme: “2023 general elections, judiciary and sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy” in Abuja.
The minister was represented by Dr Umar Gwandu, his Special Adviser on Media and Public Relations.
“This is evident in President Buhari’s recent assent to the Electoral Act, 2022 which has been applauded by many patriotic citizens, pundits and international community. One of the major highlights of the new Electoral Act is the legal backing provided for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deploy technology among many other commendable initiatives to bequeath posterity, a legacy of viable democratization tool. No doubt the new Electoral Act is an improvement on the repealed electoral law in many ways,” the minister said.
He said there was no doubt that the new Electoral Act was an improvement on the repealed electoral law in many ways.
He said the sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy was not linear, saying citizens had vital roles to play in the democratic process and must shun all vices that are capable of undermining the progresses that have been recorded so far.
Chief Judge of High Court of the FCT, Justice Hussain Yusuf, admitted that the judiciary is under pressure due to unprecedented number of pre-election cases, which will definitely skyrocket after the election proper.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said no one would be allowed to vote in the general elections without a Permanent Voter Card (PVC).
The INEC Chairman, represented by Mr Lawrence Bayode, Director ICT in the commission said there was no provision in the Electoral Act 2022 that gave the commission the option to register voters to vote using the digits on the Voter Identification Number (VIN).
“There is a very disturbing trend which is the misinformation and disinformation on technological deployments by the commission in the social media space and some media houses picking up news bulletins social media platforms to discuss on their morning shows and political programmes without reaching out to the commission for its stance on such issues.
“One of such is the recent viral assumptions that PVC is not required to vote on election day. Let me reiterate the commission’s stance that Section 47 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022 clearly states that; A person attending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a presiding officer for accreditation at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered. Therefore, the commission is legally bound to only accept accreditation of a voter on presentation of a valid voter’s card.”
He said that the commission on its part had an active social media presence and would continue to do its best to educate Nigerians and debunk such type of misinformation.
He assured Nigerians gave that the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS) was secured and that the commission had been repelling attacks from hackers. He said the BVAS technology would be deployed to actualize a credible, fair and hitch-free general election.
