Soldiers deployed to rig Ekiti gov election could have ended insurgency, says Buhari

Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has accused the federal government of using the military to rig elections.

Speaking late Sunday night during an interview with Al Jazeera, Buhari alleged that there was no commitment on the part of government to restore normalcy to the parts of the country under the siege of Boko Haram.

“The government is not prepared to fight Boko Haram. The troops deployed in Ekiti state where we believed we were rigged out, if deployed in the northeast, we believe that they would have rescued the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls,” he said.

“They know where they are but whether they have the capacity or not, the Nigerian government still can’t give a cohesive reason why those children have not been rescued.

“I have no evidence to say that government is supporting insurgency but the government has failed in its principal duty of protecting lives and properties.

“The number of military personnel, police and other law enforcement agents deployed to Osun and Ekiti to rig election in favour of the ruling party would have been used effectively to tackle insurgency in the northeast.”

Expressing dissatisfaction with the postponement of the general election, Buhari recalled that Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had earlier assured the state council that the commission was ready for the election.

“I hope the military, INEC and the ruling party will accept that the postponement has a limit,” he said.

“There was no need for it. When the chairman of INEC briefed the council of state, he said the commission was ready for the election. But if they have been forced by the military for whatever reason to consider another six weeks, we are going to abide by that and ask our supporters to remain calm and be prepared to participate in the election on March 28 and April 11.

“But if in six years the military is saying that it cannot secure 17 local governments out of 774, how can we be sure that they can secure those 14 local governments in six weeks?”