PRESIDENT
MUHAMMADU BUHARI (R) CONGRATULATING MAHMOOD YAKUBU AFTER HIS OATH OF
OFFICE AS THE CHAIRMAN OF INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION
(INEC) AT THE PRESIDENTIAL VILLA IN ABUJA ON MONDAY (9/11/15)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday inaugurated the new INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, and five national commissioners of the commission.
Speaking
at the inaugural ceremony at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Buhari
enjoined the new INEC chairman and the national commissioners to resist
undue external influence.
The President, who enjoined them to respect the Rule of Law, pledged to respect the independence of the commission.
He said, “You
must respect the law and we will hold you bound by the oath, which you
have just taken. The nation has reposed a lot of trust and confidence in
you. You cannot afford to fail.’’
Buhari
also stressed the need for urgent reform of the State Electoral
Commissions to ensure free and fair elections and for the protection of
democratic values.
According to him,
the Federal Government is considering a different strategy of engaging
state governments on how to make state electoral commissions much freer
than many are today.
He said that he
was aware of the Federal Government’s constitutional constraints in
relation to its engagement with the state electoral bodies.
He,
however, said that it was the responsibility of the government to
protect the democratic rights of all citizens, adding that hiding behind
the technicality of law to deny the citizens rights, was totally
unacceptable
.
Photo Credit: NAN-PHOTO
No comments:
Post a Comment