Barely 24 hours to the legislative re-run election in Rivers State, President Muhammadu Buhari has urged politicians not to see the Saturday’s elections as “do-or-die affair.”
Buhari gave the advice while calling for peaceful and orderly conduct of the Saturday’s polls.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Friday, the President appealed to politicians and their supporters in Rivers State to put the “higher interest of the people of the state in mind, as they go to the polls on Saturday.”
Buhari also called on all electoral stakeholders to ensure that tomorrow’s elections are conducted without “rigging, violence and intimidation of opponents and electoral officials.
The statement says, “He also enjoins the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do all within its powers to give transparency and fairness to the electoral exercise in Rivers State.
“The rerun elections should not be seen as a do-or-die affair to the extent that people will be killed, maimed and property destroyed in a mindless display of crude primitive instincts.
“Innocent blood should never be sacrificed on the altar of political contest for temporary power”.
The President, urged security and law enforcement agencies to exhibit, “professionalism and non-partisanship in the discharge of their constitutional duties even in the face of extreme provocations”
However, he directed security agents to deal decisively with “trouble makers” and those bent on “violating the sanctity of the electoral process.”
The President maintained that his administration is committed to ensuring the conduct of free, fair and credible election, restating ”the commitment of his administration to deepening democracy in the country by enthroning a legacy of respect for the wishes of the people through free, fair and credible elections devoid of intimidation and violence throughout the federation.”
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