From Uche Usim, Abuja
As tempers flare over the intimidation and other infractions that dogged the 2023 Presidential elections, the Polling Unit Ambassador of Nigeria (PUAN) and a group of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have asked aggrieved parties to let the dove of peace fly and seek legal redress, rather than resorting to self-help that may incinerate the country.
The President General, Polling Unit Ambassador of Nigeria (PUAN), Captain Suleiman Dabas at a media briefing in Abuja said urged the discontented parties place the national interest far above any other considerations, even as he extolled voters for coming out en masse to exercise their constitutional rights, thus changing the Nigerian political trajectory for good.
He reckoned that the upload of election results at the polling units failed.
“PUAN stands by this technology of INEC as we believe that election results cannot be rigged at the polling unit, the chances are very slim. Our election result collation center is our major problem.
“But all of this will be addressed by INEC, let’s give the Chairman of the Commission Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and the Commission a chance to redeem the situation. We have individually and collectively put so much for the success of the implementation of the Electoral Act 2022. Let’s wait for answers from the Commission after this very major national exercise.
“You are all heroes of our democracy. Your heroic performance in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections must be seen never to be forgotten in the history of Nigerian democracy.
“Nigeria and its leaders will never forget the strength you are able to muster together in unity to speak the language of ‘We The People’.
But Nigeria is our country, and by the basic facts, it’s our only country, we must together keep her safe and well. So, whatever that will make her bleed, we must together avoid it at all cost. Because if we don’t, we the people will only suffer the aftermath of whatever falls out of this likely agitation.
“I urge all Nigeria home and in the diaspora to listen to the voice of wisdom. Only those who are close to history will understand that violence is nowhere close to solving our individual and collective challenges”, Dabas admonished.
He called for a professional and globally acceptable standard or practice to address the grievances as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022. This is what makes us human and intelligent.
“Just last week during the Presidential and National Assembly elections, the nation lost some very promising young Nigerians due to some undemocratic behavior, they are gone never to be seen again. The nation grieves for them. Lives are lost. We must not allow this to happen again in this country”, he added.
