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From Desmond Mgboh Kano
The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and the Kano Civil Society Forum have called for the establishment of an electoral offences tribunal to ensure timely and adequate prosecution of electoral offenders in Nigeria.
Speaking on Saturday in Kano, the Chairman, TMG, Auwal Ibrahim Musa, and the Convener, Kano Civil Society Forum, Ibrahim Waiya, urged the incoming 10th National Assembly to make the legislation a priority.
They held that setting up the tribunal would ease the burden of responsibilities currently shouldered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
They said justice must be served and be seen to be served on perpetrators of electoral violence in Nigeria, while urging the international community to impose sanctions on the offenders and their sponsors.
Assessing the 2023 general elections in the state and country, they insisted that INEC must collaborate with security agencies, to protect voters from political thugs in future elections.
They also urged the parties to improve on their internal democracy, stressing that a bulk of the problems that befell the 2023 elections stemmed from lack of internal democracy in the major political parties.
They recommended the screening of all potential election observers by the anti-corruption commission, to ensure that only prudent and credible organisations are assigned to observe future elections.
They condemned the position of a group, which identified itself as Accredited Elections Observers, and which had called for a review of the Kano State governorship elections won by the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), describing the group as fake and unknown to them.
