The presidency has reminded governors and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in states where there will be supplementary elections of the need to work hard to earn their people’s votes, rather than expect President Muhammadu Buhari to manipulate INEC in their favour, pledging not to interfere in the polls even though there had been subtle pressure for it to do so.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, gave the assurance on Sunday, in Abuja, where he also criticised political gladiators, some of whom have accused President Buhari of plot to interfere with the upcoming elections scheduled for March 23.

It would be recalled that since the announcement by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaring governorship elections in Bauchi, Benue, Adamawa, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto as inconclusive, the Presidential Villa have been agog with high profile politicians from the ruling party, including governors of the party, apparently to court favour from the presidency.

Last week, Bauchi and Adamawa state governors, Mohammed Abubakar and Bindow Jibrilla, paid unscheduled visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo allegedly to lobby him to turn things in their favour.

Shehu, in his statement on behalf of the presidency, cautioned against a lot of the hate spewing, incitement to violence and the polarising statements by so-called political leaders as a number of states brace up for supplementary elections prescribed by INEC.

He said the presidency also rejects unfair and ridiculous criticisms of President Buhari’s apparent disinterest in the upcoming elections in some states by party members who wrongfully assume that the president will abuse power by changing results to favour them.

According to him, past presidents of Nigeria were known to interfere in inconclusive elections, and that is why party members appear to be upset that the same thing is not happening now, but President Buhari is a different kind of leader. He swore to defend the constitution and will not veer off from that, he said.

He stressed that the constitution of Nigeria gives the president no such powers. It is unfair and ridiculous to criticise President Buhari for not going against the constitution, Shehu noted.

“Party members in states where there will be supplementary elections then need to be reminded that they need to work hard to earn their people’s votes, rather than expect President Buhari to manipulate INEC in their favour.

“Interestingly, while members of the ruling APC party were criticising the president for not interfering on their behalf, members of the opposition were condemning the president based on their assumptions that he would definitely interfere, as many in the opposition did while in power.

“Under President Buhari, INEC had been and will be completely independent throughout the elections, free from any interference.

“President Buhari is a man of conviction, and the manipulation of election results goes against everything he stands for, INEC is completely in charge,” Shehu noted in the statement.

•Sourced from a Daily Independent report

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