The Accord Party presidential candidate, Prof. Christopher Imumolen, has vowed to put an end to the incessant cases of impunity and lawlessness across the country if elected as Nigeria’s president during next year’s election.
He said Nigerians have been misdiagnosed with the tag of lawless people for decades because there has been a lack of will to punish crime or acts of criminality in the country.
In a statement on Monday by his campaign organisation, the 38-year-old presidential candidate said contrary to belief, Nigerians are not lawless but only need a working system to adapt.
According to him, a change in mentality would come naturally should the government begin to take seriously the issue of swift and adequate dispensation of criminal justice.
Imumolen said a system which allows people to break the law without being held accountable is a system setting itself up for anarchy, instability and persistent security upheavals being witnessed all over the country.
“I have never believed that Nigerians are a lawless people. Rather, I’ll choose to put the blame at the doorsteps of a system that blatantly refuses to punish infractions or acts of criminality when they are committed,” he told a panel of interviewers.
“Are those who insist that Nigerians are lawless not surprised to see them adapt quickly when they travel outside the shores of this country?
“That clearly attests to the fact that they only accept and live the way they live because the system back home does not take the issue of meting out of punishment to those who commit crimes, including the most heinous like kidnappings, rebellion against the state, and wanton killings of people of a particular tribe in the name of ethnic cleansing, seriously.
“We have had convoys of governors, and lately that of the president waylaid, attacked by bandits with no consequence. Can that happen in saner climes where the issue of security is tackled, using technology in gathering intelligence?
“So, this is an area me and my government will beam a searchlight should I be given the people’s mandate to become president come 2023.
“We shall not only, as a matter of expediency, pursue a policy that seeks to identify trouble spots, and those behind them, we shall be strengthening our security system through digitalisation to make the process of crime-fighting and punishment for lawbreakers a key objective.
“And am confident that once Nigerians begin to see this change in attitude where people, no matter their status, titles or level of influence, are not treated as sacred cows but are made to answer for their crimes by the government of the day, Nigerians will naturally begin to adapt,” he added.
