APC chieftain demands stiffer legislation for culprits of election violence

A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Mustapha Audu, has called on the National Assembly to come up with stiffer sanctions to check election violence in the country.

Audu made the call while addressing newsmen to commemorate the fourth anniversary of his father, late former Governor of Kogi state, Prince Abubakar Audu on Sunday in Abuja.

“The National Assembly should come up with stiffer sanctions to punish those who engage in election violence,” he said, adding that the National Assembly should not only come up with stiffer sanctions, but also ensure that security agencies arrest and prosecute such offenders.

The politician added that security personnel who compromise when violence is being unleashed on the people during elections should be sanctioned accordingly.

Audu said that this would deter would be electoral offenders from committing the crime.

He urged the media to always put pressure on the political class and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to abide by the Electoral Act by exposing their excesses.

Audu described the violence that characterised the November 16 Kogi state governorship and senatorial elections as a shame and unnecessary.

“It is a thing of shame for every Kogi person that we as a people cannot express our views peacefully during elections. We set up a centre to review reports of election violence and what we saw was overwhelming, ‘he said.

Audu called on security agencies to ensure that those who partook in election violence were sanctioned, according to the law, no matter how highly placed they are in the society.

Seriki Hausawa stool: Police arrest 3 over protest in Ife

He also called on the electorate to always hold politicians responsible for their campaign promises and vote against them if they fail to fulfil such promises.

Audu appealed to all members of the party and stakeholders in Kogi state to close rank, irrespective of the differences and to forge ahead.

On programmes lined up for his father`s anniversary, he said that the Millennium Builders’ Plaza in Abuja, would be named after his late father.

Audu also said the family would visit children in his village to make some interventions in line with the late Audu`s vision and that the essence of the anniversary is to ensure that his father’s legacies in all aspects of human endeavour live on in spite of his death.