By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
The Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN) has called on President Muhammad Buhari to demonstrate sincerity and commitment to his persistent promise of delivering free, fair, peaceful and credible election in 2019.
This is contained in a statement by the National Coordinator, Okechukwu Nwanguma made available to Newsdiaryonline Tuesday.
NOPRIN described as ‘fair enough’, President Buhari’s new year message in which he reiterated his oft-expressed commitment to ensure free, fair, peaceful and credible election in 2019, noting however that there were obstacles to the realisation of this noble intention.
“But there are clear and present dangers and indeed, obstacles to the realisation of this expectation of Nigerians. Major among the obstacles is the partisanship of security agencies under your policy and operational control. The worse and most unabashed of which is the NPF through the obsequious posture and embarrassing activities of the current IGP whose term expires this January.
“Mr. President, please, demonstrate your sincerity and commitment to your promise of delivering free, fair, peaceful and credible election this year by resisting the pressure to extend the term of this current IGP.
“Mr. President, please, avoid the temptation and do not continue to present yourself as having no qualms rewarding incompetence
“Not a few Nigerians are convinced that, given recent events and conducts of the current IGP and of the heads of most other security agencies which manifest clear partisanship, there is significant concern about the credibility of the elections.
“The participation of the current leadership of the security agencies in overseeing the elections may gravely harm the perception of fairness and integrity of the process. This is more so as the terms of office of military chiefs have already expired while that of the IGP expires this January 2019. This affords the President the opportunity to effect needed changes in the security agencies’ hierarchy,” the statement read.
NOPRIN therefore appealed to Buhari to show commitment in ensuring credible election.
“I call on President Buhari to demonstrate sincerity in his expressed commitment to ensuring free, fair, peaceful and credible election,” it added.
