BEVERLY HILLS, September 17, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has called on political parties, candidates, election officials and security agents to behave responsively and uphold democratic standards in the Edo State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, 19th of September, 2020.
In a statement on Thursday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said that failure to abide by the rules would truncate efforts to achieve free and fair elections.
“I am passionately committed to free and fair elections, but my own commitment is not enough if other actors at ground zero refuse to abide by the rules,” the President said.
President Buhari stressed his resolve to ensure democratic standards in the country are raised higher at every level, but “these cannot be achieved when politicians resort to do or die methods to gain power by any means or machination”, he added.
The President said, the do-or-die mentality to politics is a threat to free and fair elections because the actors are more focused on winning than “caring about a fair outcome that reflects the will of the people.”
Apart from the parties and their candidates, the President called on security agents and electoral officials to remain neutral. That way, he said, “they would be able to ensure free and fair elections and avoid actions capable of compromising the integrity of the elections.”
While reassuring of his commitment to a transparent peaceful poll in Edo State, President Buhari said “conducting free and fair elections is one of my main concerns for our democracy, and I want this commitment to be one of the legacies I will leave behind when I depart office.”
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