Baba orders CPs to hasten investigation for INEC to prosecute culprits
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Usman Baba has ordered state Commissioners of Police (CPs) to hasten and conclude all investigation of electoral offences during the federal elections on February 25.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) gave the order so the prosecution of culprits can begin in earnest in line with the Electoral Act 2022.
A statement issued in Abuja by Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, a Chief Superintendent of Police, quoted Baba as saying such case files should be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the prosecution of suspects.
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Election security management
Baba directed the CPs to avoid further delay and ensure thoroughness in the investigations, via reporting by Vanguard.
Baba told them to engage stakeholders in their jurisdictions through townhalls and other viable avenues to ensure a smooth exercise.
He pledged the police would operate in a manner that will allow Nigerians to actively participate in the governorship and state Assembly elections on March 18.
He urged police officers to ensure an all-inclusive election security management and urged the public to cooperate with the police and other law enforcement agencies for effective security before, during, and after the vote.
“Our interest is to protect everybody, the electorate, accredited observers, INEC officials and materials,” Baba said.
US urges INEC to fix BVAS, logistics before guber election
Washington has commended Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi for choosing to go to court to challenger the result of the presidential election instead of massing their supporters on the streets to cause more damage to the national psyche.
United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, conveyed the message on the website of the US Mission Nigeria and urged the INEC to fix all technical and logistics hitches to ensure the governorship ballot on March 18 is conducted better.
This is of global importance, she stressed, because the US and Nigeria together constitute the largest presidential democracies in the world.
“The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.
“In the coming days, it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians not let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course,” she said.
“We commend Mr. Obi and Mr. Abubakar for their recent statements committing to take this path, and Mr. Tinubu, who INEC declared the president-elect under Nigeria’s electoral framework, for acknowledging their right to do so.
“The United States is no stranger to election-related controversy and conflict. As much as it can be unsatisfying to end an electoral process in a courtroom, in a constitutional democracy bound by the rule of law, that is where electoral conflicts may appropriately conclude.”
INEC to address challenges promptly
“It is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations,” Leonard said.
“As I said numerous times prior to the elections, Nigeria has accomplished much in just the two-plus decades since the return to democracy, and a gradual improvement in the quality of its elections in that time constitutes one of those accomplishments.
“We recognize that Nigerians want that positive trend to continue, including through the use of new technology intended to make the process of reporting results more transparent.
“We thus reiterate our call on INEC to address promptly the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections, and to undertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix them.
“In all cases, INEC should share with the Nigerian public information about the actions it is taking.”