The Senator representing Kaduna
Central in the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, has described the 2019
general elections as the worst in the history of Nigeria.
He explained that the recent
general elections in the country were characterized with irregularities.
Senator Shehu Sani, a human right
activist, who lost his bid to return back to the Red Chamber to Uba Sani of the
All Progressives Congress, has challenged the results of the elections in the
Elections Petition Tribunal.
Speaking on the outcome of the
general elections in the country, Senator Sani said that the 2019 polls under
President Muhammadu Buhari administration was the worst elections ever
conducted in the country considering the irregularities and other malpractices
that followed the conduct of the elections in the country.
According to him, though there
was no perfection in the conduct of elections anywhere in the world, “But no
sensible person will say the 2019 elections is credible or above the standard
of the 2019 elections which gave President Buhari his victory.”
Appraising the outcome of this
year’s polls, Sani said, “We have seen the effort invested by former President
Goodluck Jonathan before the 2015 general elections, and also we have seen the
systematic subversion of elections matters under this government, since the
beginning of this recent elections, there have been a lot of infractions and
distortion.
“Some have been with us for very
long time. The 2019 general elections was characterised by armed thuggery,
massive abuse and misused of security personnel, vote buying, acts of
intimidation against voters and INEC officials, manipulation of results and
figures and indiscriminate and allocation of votes.”
Senator Sani added, “We have also
seen the decapitation of very principles and ethics of credible elections by
those in position of authority.
“We expected this elections to be
credible, better than 2015, but we have seen how in some cases, INEC Officials
were used to temper with results and mandate of the people, and how solders
were used to intimidate and attack voters and policemen were also used back
thugs and thuggery in many of the States.
“And also, we have seen how the
phenomenon of inconclusive elections have become so confusing and
contradictory.
“So, as far as I am concerned, I
can say that if President Buhari is planning to leave a legacy of credible
elections, this cannot be a good legacy for all that we have gone through.”
Sani argued, “The lot of people
that have died, the number of mandates that have been stollen, and the way the
voting process was discredited are all issues we need to take into
consideration to determine if we are really growing our democracy or retarding
it.”
He said that a situation where
political leaders buy themselves into public offices or use violence and
intimidation to force themselves back to power would not augur well for the
nation.
He stressed, “One of the cardinal
pillars of democracy is the ability of the citizens to elect their leaders
freely, but when the process is destroyed, undermined and decimated, then the
legitimacy of people who are going to occupy public offices will be seriously
questioned and this is where we find ourselves today.
“You cannot use violence and
public resources to get your self into office and now claim any form of
credibility. And I am saying it clearly that as long as leaders will perpetrate
injustice, undermine the basic principles of democratic elections and rig
themselves into power, they have lost the moral right to call for statesmanship
or sportsmanship. You cannot rig elections and destroy the foundation of
democracy and demand public order among the people.”
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