Following the record of violence and thuggery in the just concluded Bayelsa and Kogi states governorship election, a member of the House of Representatives, Leke Abejide, has suggested that to eliminate thuggery and violence, and ensure free, fair and credible election in Nigeria, the country should adopt electronic voting during election.
Abejide, a member of African Democratic Congress (ADC) who represents Yagba Federal Constituency of Kogi State, said this while responding to questions from newsmen during a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.
Reacting to the just concluded election in Kogi and Bayelsa, the lawmaker condemned acts of thuggery and violence that occurred during the election.
“Politics is not do-or-die. Fighting or causing mayhem and killing is barbaric and I condemn it.
“We are going to come up with electronic voting system where people can vote using their phones.
“In a case whereby someone is bringing the ballot box and it is snatched, we cannot get proper election with this system.
“We cannot get free, fair and credible election with the system of voting we use now,” he said.
He called on aggrieved parties to seek redress in court and also pledged his support to whoever emerged winner.
Also briefing newsmen, Minority Leader of the House, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu (PDP-Delta) condemned acts of violence witnessed in the Nov. 16 governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa.
“We (minority caucus of the house) are displeased and totally against what happened in last Saturday’s election.
“We are not impressed with the mode of conduct of the election given that many lives were lost.
The minority leader said the caucus would support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) going to the tribunal.
“The party will be going to the tribunal to seek redress; we support them wholly, totally in that drive to reclaim the mandate,” he said.
Also speaking, Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Toby Okechukwu (PDP-Enugu) called for investigation into the conduct of the election in both states.
“Unfortunately, we have come to degenerate in this country with regards to how elections are conducted.
“The level of violence orchestrated in just two states is disheartening; it is something that really needs to be investigated and we are calling on Mr President to take action on that.
“We believe that these matters will be interrogated in court and we will seek redress in the court and we know that our remedy will be granted by the court.
“We shall drive to make sure the Electoral Act has to be amended and the time is now. We need to address some of these imperfections manifested in very clear forms,” he said.
