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COMMENT Sham elections as terminal throes for a disastrous dispensation
PEOPLE knew that, as was invariably the case with every Nigerian election, multiple ligations would follow the February 25 and March 11, 2023 presidential and general elections. Still, it came as a rude shock that virtually every contested seat – whether presidential, gubernatorial or assembly – has generated a welter of suits before the Election Tribunals. Of the presidential ballot, two of the three leading contestants have filed suits claiming that Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), committed a constitutional blunder by declaring Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the president-elect.
In another remarkable suit, Professor Haruna Yakubu and five other aggrieved Nigerians have sued the INEC chairman, all national commissioners of the Commission and a staggering 177,606 polling officers plus the Inspector General of the Police (IGP) over the conduct of the general election. Specifically, those sued are to answer charges that they deliberately refused to follow the electoral laws of the country and INEC’s set guidelines in the conduct of the general elections.
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To underscore the mess that is the recent elections, the scandal that played out in Nkanu East constituency of the Enugu State gubernatorial ballot needs to be cited. The number of registered voters here was 36,976. The number of those that collected their permanent voter’s cards (PVC) after registration was 27,594. But on March 18, 2023, the gubernatorial Election Day, the number of accredited voters was a mere 7,453. Without accreditation, nobody can vote
Chuks Iloegbunam
because accreditation is the lot only of the would-be voter that physically showed up at a voting centre. It was at this juncture that the INEC magic started.
Upon the collation of the votes cast in all Enugu State constituencies save Nkanu East, the results stood thus: Chijioke Edeoga (Labour Party): 155,697 votes.
the votes of the other “also rans” were added, the tally came to 19,237 votes.
Assuming that all the 7453 registered voters had cast their votes for Mr. Mbah, Mr. Edeoga would still have defeated him by 4,306 votes. Yet, INEC rode on the corrupting wheels of vote padding to declare Mr, Mbah the governor-elect!
