20100528
all africa

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that an electoral offences tribunal would be established to try electoral crimes in the country.

Jonathan said this yesterday when a United States delegation led by the Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero visited him at the State House, Abuja.

"If you alter results, that is forgery, it is criminal and the offender must be made to pay for the crime. If you snatch ballot papers, that is stealing and there is a penalty attached," Jonathan was quoted as saying in a statement by his spokesman Ima Niboro.

Jonathan, who also admitted that even with the present laws we can conduct fairly acceptable elections, said all that is needed to be done was to enforce the law.

He said in the next election, there would be no cheating, "every vote must count and we are totally committed to this."

He said that "winning elections is not the issue, but the process must be credible, free and fair."

While noting that the People's Democratic Party (PDP) "is the dominant party," he said that "even at that, we must ensure that things are done properly and so people can be convinced that we won fair and square."

Jonathan also reiterated the intention of his administration to sanitise the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and allow only people of proven integrity and good track record to man the outfit, adding that electoral reform was very crucial.

Undersecretary Otero, who was accompanied by the United States Ambassador to Nigeria Robin Sanders, said that her delegation was in Nigeria to attend the first Nigeria-US Bi-national Commission meeting.

She said President Jonathan can contest the 2011 presidential election provided the 2011 elections are going to be fair and transparent enough to ensure that every vote counts.

"When elections are fair and transparent and when everyone can see that every vote counts, the question of them being contested decreases a great deal."