Hon. Shamsudeen Dambazau, a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives who represents the Takai/Sumaila Federal Constituency in Kano State, stated that it is the responsibility of the country’s security agencies to ensure a successful and orderly general election in 2023.
In response to question about the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) concerns about security threats to the upcoming election, he made this statement on Thursday during an engagement with members of the House of Representatives Press Corps in Abuja.
He emphasized that the security agencies had a responsibility to protect Nigerians who also have the right to exercise their civic responsibilities.
Dambazau said “It is very important that they (security agencies) and the candidates (of political parties) come together to see that all apparatus put in place to ensure peaceful conduct of the election”, he said.
On the pockets of argument against the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) for the coming general election, including that of National Chairman of the APC, Abdulahi Adamu, the lawmaker insisted that it is the best for the country at the moment, as according to him, the president backed the system based on past experiences of being rigged out.
The Lawmaker noted that, “Sometimes, people out of painful experience, when they are in position, they try to prevent others from going through the same. If people are kicking against the BIVAS, it is because it is doing its job. It is excellent”, he stated.
He also called for the evolvement of new technologies to ease the registration for, and collection of PVCs by Nigerians.
He also insisted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government under President Muhammadu Buhari has done so much in addressing insecurity, and deserved a return to continue on the legacies of the outgoing president, recalling how at a point he personally stop going stopped going to the mosque for prayers due to indiscriminate bombings.
Also on the twists added to the threats of terrorism or insurgency through kidnapping, banditry and secession agitations, the lawmaker submitted that “they are being addressed by the government. We have joint task forces all around the zones of the country. These, you cannot eliminate completely but what is important is a level of sanity”, urging the government to however up its punitive measures “so as not to allow impunity for anybody to come out to perpetuate such acts”.
When asked on his opinion over the suggested political solution option to the ongoing trial of leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, he said it was the full responsibility of the executive arm of the federal government, which initiated the arrest in the first place, to decide the best way out, especially on the basis that those charged with the responsibility of managing the situation “are better informed to make the right decision”.
