Disturbed by the spate of electoral offences involving politicians and their supporters, the Sokoto State resident electoral commissioner (REC), Abubakar Sadiq Musa, has asked the National Assembly to pass a law to establish a special court to speedily try such offenders.
Sadiq, who spoke yesterday in Sokoto at the National Peace Committee (NPC) town hall meeting on the peaceful rerun of the 2019 governorship and House of Assembly elections on Saturday, insisted that electoral offenders should be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
He said: “God will never fix elections for us until we fix it by ourselves. And if that is the case, politicians must caution their followers.”
On the low turnout of voters during the governorship and House of Assembly elections, the REC said that most people were scared of possible negative outcomes.
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Sadiq disclosed that one of INEC staff was macheted during the election in Kebbe local government area and expressed the fears if such low turnout would not be recorded during the Saturday rerun.
Earlier, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and secretary of NPC, Matthew Hassan Kukah, called on the political gladiators in the state to ensure a violence-free supplementary election in Sokoto.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III who was represented by Wazirin Sokoto, Prof. Sambo Wali Junaidu, admonished the electorate to vote for the candidates of their choice.
At the event, both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) signed another peace accord to work for the progress of the state.
The state coordinator of the International Republican Institute (IRI), Aisha Ahmed, reminded politicians that Sokoto plays very important roles in Northern Nigeria and the country at large in terms of promoting peace and stability.
