The Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform has said the instruction dished out by President Muhammadu Buhari to security agencies on ballot box snatching should be considered carefully, stating that it is within the limits of the law.
The Executive Director, CODER, Dr. Wunmi Bewaji revealed this recently.
The President had threatened that whoever is involved in ballot box snatching during Saturday elections will be doing so “at his own expense.”
Bewaji revealed that ballot box snatching was a crime in the eye of the law and the security agencies have every right to arrest individuals found guilty.
Her words, “The President’s statement must be understood within the context of the law. The President might end up being right in certain regard.
“But, per adventure, in the process of arresting such an individual and the individual resists arrest, our criminal procedure allows for the security agencies to use force and that might be fatal at the end of the day.
“I do not think the President is advocating outright shooting of someone engaging in that criminality.”
On the postponement, “This unpreparedness may not entirely be the fault of INEC but was perhaps due to the late approval of their budget by the National Assembly.
“INEC must, however, review its planning and logistics and ensure that they have fallback plans in case of unforeseen challenges.”
