Nigeria Content Online

The Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) yesterday called on the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone governorship elections in
states where cases of violence were recorded following the presidential
election of last week.

President of the
Association, Joe Daudu said in Abuja yesterday said “In the past three
days, hundreds of innocent Nigerians have been brutally and savagely
killed, churches in Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Yobe etc have been
torched/burnt down. Shops and other businesses of Nigerians referred to
as strangers in their own country have been looted. The highways are no
longer passable as Christians and other identifiable non indigenes are
pulled out of vehicles and slaughtered,” he said.

“Part of the
objective of the masterminds of this purge is to intimidate
non-indigenes for the last election as well as punish them for daring
to vote according to their choice and conscience. It will be a travesty
of the electoral process if the remaining election is conducted under
this very ominous cloud in the affected states,” he said.

Demand for justice

Mr Daudu also
described the security approach to the crisis as deplorable and advised
that the episode must not be swept under the carpet.

“The cold-blooded
murderers must be brought to book and justice served to the memory of
all that untimely lost their lives in this crisis,” he said.

Furthermore, he
said if government omits to bring the culprits to justice, the
association shall be left with no option than to approach the
International Criminal Court of Justice for warrants to issue against
the leaders of organisations that gave platform for these crimes.

He said
government needs to constitute a high-powered commission of inquiry to
collate the extent of loss of lives and property and every opportunity
given to aggrieved or affected persons to speak out.

Mr Daudu also
said such commission should be empowered to pay compensation for lives
and property lost, with same to be deducted from the accounts of states
where the losses or deaths occurred.

He also called on
the National Assembly to consider enacting stiffer laws to protect the
lives, liberty and property of every Nigerian regardless of where he
resides in the country.

The NBA, however, said INEC must be congratulated for conducting a transparently credible election.

“It is on record
that this is the first general election where alarming reports of
disenfranchisement in the way of subserviced polling stations,
inability of registered voters to vote, violence at polling stations
and the hijacking of ballot boxes were recorded at the barest minimum,”
Mr Daudu said. “There is a consensus among all observers, local and
international and men of repute that covered the election so far that
the whole process was free and fair. The NBA has therefore been proved
right when we refused to join others in castigating INEC during the
botched election.”

Mr Daudu said NBA congratulates all those that won in the two elections, including President Goodluck Jonathan.