The Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform has publicly stated that Buhari’s harsh words to election riggers and political thugs are within the rights the law of the land permits him.
The Executive Director, CODER, Dr. Wunmi Bewaji stated this yesterday.
The President had said that anyone caught in the act of ballot box snatching during Saturday elections will be doing so “at his own expense.”
Bewaji said that ballot box snatching was a serious crime if we considered the law governing Nigeria and the security agencies are allowed to arrest individuals found guilty.
Her words, “The President’s statement must be understood within the context of the law. The President might end up being right in certain regard.
“But, per adventure, in the process of arresting such an individual and the individual resists arrest, our criminal procedure allows for the security agencies to use force and that might be fatal at the end of the day.
“I do not think the President is advocating outright shooting of someone engaging in that criminality.”
On the postponement, “This unpreparedness may not entirely be the fault of INEC but was perhaps due to the late approval of their budget by the National Assembly.
“INEC must, however, review its planning and logistics and ensure that they have fallback plans in case of unforeseen challenges.”
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