National conference full of election riggers – Delegate

Aliyu Abdulkarreem, a delegate to the ongoing National Conference in Abuja has said that the Conference is full of active election riggers. Abdulkarreem who said this while contributing to the debate on report by the Committee on Political Parties and Electoral Matters in Abuja on Tuesday, recommended that stiffer penalties must be put in place to discourage election rigging in the country. According to reports from Daily Independent, Abdulkarreem who noted that the product of election rigging in the country had been bad governance suggested that offenders must be shot to serve as deterrent to others. “I want the Conference to look at the issue of rigging in the country. It is giving us bad government and that is why we are having bad governance. “Election riggers must be shot. This Conference is full of election riggers and, therefore, I move a motion that election riggers must be shot in order to serve as a deterrent to others.” His contribution seemed not to go down well with majority of the delegates, as they laughed, while others openly said ‘no’ to his recommendation. In his contribution to the debate, Akin Arikawe, a retired permanent secretary, suggested that election riggers must be banned for 10 years before being allowed to contest any elective office. “Election riggers must be banned for 10 years before being allowed to contest elections. Election riggers must be punished. We must be seen to be serious and we must take actions that are decisive,” he added. In his contribution, another delegate, Nnamdi Eriobuna, said it was unfortunate that most political parties lacked ideology and that they ended up deceiving the voters into unplanned period of grief.