The President said it was not enough for election tribunals to nullify elections and order for rerun, saying those responsible for flawed elections should no longer go unpunished.
Buhari spoke shortly after he administered oaths of office on the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and five INEC national commissioners at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The five commissioners inaugurated alongside Yakubu are Mrs. Amina Zakari, Mr. Solomon Soyebi, Prof. Antonia Okoosi-Simbine, Dr. Muhammed Mustafa Lecky and Alhaji Baba Shettima Arfo.
The President said all those who contributed to flawed elections, whether individuals, political parties or security agents, should be made to pay for their action and inaction.
He also said those responsible for violence and thuggery during elections should not be spared because the nation would not get it right in the event of any cover-up.
Buhari said, “Another area of concern is the justice administration of the electoral tribunals. It is long overdue that our justice system addresses these shortcomings.
“It is not just enough for an election to be cancelled and a new one ordered. It would be much better if all whose action or inaction led to the cancellation of such election to be investigated and if culpable prosecuted, whether they are individuals as candidates or party agents; institutions, such as political party, electoral body; or public officers as electoral staff or security agents.
“Similarly, perpetrators of electoral violence and thuggery should not be spared. Unless our system stops covering up all forms of electoral malpractices, we can hardly get it right. No system endures with impunity.”
He said since the ruling All Progressives Congress had promised Nigerians change, the change should be all-embracing as far as electioneering was concerned.
He said the change should start with change of attitudes, change of work ethics, change in attitude to corruption and corrupt practices, change of party political conduct – right from primaries to the emergence of candidates and finally the conduct of elections.
While promising to take the campaign of free and fair elections to the states, Buhari said the situation where ruling parties in the states always win all local government seats did not augur well for the country if that was not the people’s wish.
Yakubu, who spoke on behalf of the new INEC officials, pledged their commitment to the discharge of their responsibility without fear or favour.
He admitted that a free and fair election was at the heart of national development and promised not to fail the nation.
He later told State House correspondents that the nation’s Constitution and the Electoral Act would guide the operations of INEC under his chairmanship.
Yakubu said, “We have achieved universal accolades for the successes recorded in the 2015 general elections. I think it is prudent that we are going to consolidate on these elections so that what counts ultimately is the will of the Nigerian people.
“Whoever Nigerians vote for, they should rest assured that their votes count. And those they vote for will be their representatives at all levels.”
When asked about his view on the use of card readers in future elections, the INEC chairman said the device had come to stay.
He said, “The card readers have come to stay. In fact if there is any value that technology is going to add in addition to the card readers, we will happily introduce that.
“As I said at the screening at the Senate, no more will elections be won and lost at the headquarters of INEC.
“Whoever wishes to represent Nigerians at whatever level, he or she has access to the ballot box and whatever Nigerians chose is what INEC will uphold.”
Yakubu also promised that the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states would be as credible as the 2015 general elections.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, also expressed the belief that the INEC chairman and his commissioners would live up to expectations.
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