The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, on Friday sounded a note of warning to political parties and their candidates over electoral violence ahead of the 2023 elections.
He asked the parties to prevail on their supporters to desist from all kinds of violent activities.
He gave the warning at an emergency meeting of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.
The emergency meeting was convened by INEC following the recent attacks on its facilities in Ogun and Osun state.
“Those people who have gangsters working for them, I want to send a very clear warning, a categorical, unequivocal warning to each and every one, regardless of whichever party, including the party of the President,” Mr Monguno said.
“For as long as you decide to scuttle the electoral process, you will be visited with appropriate, commensurate response. I want to assure you, and I am saying this with all sincerity.”
“Those who feel they have a history of organizing and controlling groups that have a inclination for excessive, immoderate, inordinate behavior,I want to send this warning to you, please,reaccess,re-evaluate and run through whatever contemplation you have been making.
“Call your people and advise them to behave in a manner that suggest and operate within the rules and regulations of the electoral process and Nigeria at large otherwise, you will be held accountable.
“Therefore,it is important for you to call those people under your control. Those thugs,blood thirty,trigger happy thugs,fuming at the mouth, desperate to undermine the will of the process.They would be brought to book.
He assured Nigerians that,the security agencies and intelligence agencies are already tracking those thugs.
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He stated further that, President Muhammad Buhari wants a repeat of the success recorded in Anambra,Ekiti and Osun elections in the next year general elections adding that whichever party wins shouldn’t be truncated in any form.
“Security agencies have been giving a matching order and if you think you can stretch them,you will be disappointed.
He said President Muhammad Buhari had given a clear card instruction that”If you think we’ve had a history of not following through whatever instructions given to us,this time you will be in for real shocker.”
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, who was also at the meeting, said some arrests have already been made in connection to electoral violence.
“With the incidences so far, arrests have been made, investigations have been conducted and some suspects are being charged to court,” the IGP said.
“My prayer is for quick dispensation of justice so that it will serve as deterrent and it will also reduce the cases of impunity.”
“I think If there are punishments,it would go down on members of the public especially those might be used by politicians or those who might just decide to see that the process does not succeed are cautioned to have a rethink.”