Buhari: People’ll Think I Want 3rd Term In 2023 If I Don’t Stop Attacks On INEC Offices

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, promised that his government would do everything possible to fix vandalised electoral infrastructure in the country before the next general elections.

Buhari said this when he received the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu and national electoral commissioners had met with the president over the recurring attacks on the Commission’s offices across the country, especially in the South-East region.

Buhari, during the meeting, vowed that those behind the attacks would “soon have the shocks of their lives”.

He said his administration would go “very hard” on the assailants as he would “demand security” from his security chiefs.

President Buhari said should his government fail to stop the attackers or repair vandalized INEC infrastructure, some people may think he wants to stay beyond his constitutionally allowed two terms in office.

He promised to avail INEC all it needed to operate in 2023, “so that no one would say we don’t want to go, or that we want a third term. There will be no excuse for failure. We’ll meet all INEC’s demands.”

According to Buhari, the outcome of the 2019 presidential election showed that Nigerians believed in him and voted for him for a second term, hence there was no justification for any act of insurrection against his government.

“I receive daily security reports on the attacks, and it is very clear that those behind them want this administration to fail,” Buhari said, adding that, “Insecurity in Nigeria is now mentioned all over the world….Whoever wants the destruction of the system will soon have the shock of their lives. We’ve given them enough time.”

The INEC Chairman, during the meeting, restated that the commission had witnessed no fewer than 42 attacks in 14 states since the last general elections.

Mahmood said, “…Most of the attacks happened in the last seven months, and they are unrelated to protest against previous elections. From the pattern and frequency of the most recent attacks, they appear to be targeted at future elections. The intention is to incapacitate the Commission, undermine the nation’s democracy and precipitate a national crisis.”