2023 poll and the final umpire

By Luke Onyekakeyah

There is no doubt that the circumstances surrounding the 2023 general elections have been most unpalatable and troubling. The trauma and sleepless nights the election outcome has inflicted on those who perpetrated the rigging warrants asking if this would not be the end of election rigging in Nigeria. Will INEC and indeed any sensible politician be easily lured to attempt rigging election again, given the headache and troubles that have fallen on Nigeria?

Nigerians have experienced deep pain, anguish and death following the 2023 elections. Blood has been shed in different places by marauding thugs and hooligans who were paid by their political grandmasters to commit havoc and facilitate rigging. The extent of harassment and intimidation was unprecedented. Ethnic profiling of Igbo and other non-indigenes, particularly in Lagos, alienated residents who have spent their lives and invested in Lagos.

The sudden cash crunch that erupted just weeks to the elections was most excruciating. The pain and hardship were inflicted on innocent masses of the people all in an attempt to curb vote buying. In what looked like a scene at the peak of a brutal war, people could not access cash to eat the commonest food even once a day. Parents with children found themselves in a refugee-like situation starving and begging for money and food. Not even at the peak of the brutal Nigeria/Biafra civil war did people face such a horrible situation where there was severe cash crunch that people were unable to help each other. Everyone was broke and faced the same situation. Going to bank was a nightmare as crowd similar to a market struggled to access cash. Nevertheless, going by what is happening since the electoral umpire, INEC, declared the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as winner of the February 25 presidential election, it may be construed that the problems of that election were divinely made to making rigging unattractive and possibly end it. It looks like all the problems were turning out to be a blessing. INEC, reports say, failed to adhere to the electoral laws and rules it made for itself and went ahead to declare a winner in an election that was crisis-ridden in many states.

According to INEC, Tinubu won in 12 states out of 36 to claim the highest number of votes, which was almost two million votes more than the closest rival – former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, who got 6,984,590 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party polled 6,601,533 votes. Obi won the poll in eleven states including Lagos, the hitherto eternal stronghold of the APC. He also came top in Abuja, the nation’s capital city; while Atiku also won in 12 states.

By INEC’s declaration, Tinubu came first, Atiku second while Peter Obi was placed third.  Unfortunately, the INEC verdict was diametrically opposed to what the people witnessed and recorded at the polling booths in many places. For the first time in recent times, there was massive voter enthusiasm. People trooped out in large numbers to vote for a new Nigeria, a new order. The solid assurances given by INEC to the effect that the election would be credible, free and fair boosted the confidence of Nigerians. There was this feeling that, perhaps, for the first time, Nigeria was going to have an election where people would be able to elect the man of their choice. Furthermore, the introduction of the BVAS machine, the acclaimed electronic digital device added to the confidence of Nigerians. INEC had promised that the results of each polling booth would be transmitted real time from the polling booths to the iReV platform where members of the public could view the results. The aim was to curb rigging that often goes with manual transmission of results. The stage was set for a historic election that would mark a new beginning for Nigeria.

Contrary to all expectations, on the Election Day of February 25, 2023, INEC blatantly failed to transmit the results as promised but instead resorted to the old discredited, rigging- prone manual transmission of mainly the presidential results, the most important of all, to the chagrin of Nigerians and indeed the international community. This failure coupled with the violence that marred the poll in many places has earned Nigeria opprobrium. The international observers were flatly disappointed with the polls which ranked as falling short of the minimum international standards.

The declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner and president-elect, against all odds, has been condemned both at home and abroad. But rather than agree with Nigerians that the election was compromised by INEC, the ruling APC and its flag bearer, Tinubu, challenged any aggrieved group or individual to go to court, without the slightest conjecture as to what the outcome could be. The go to court arrogance in the polity was made based on past experience whereby it was near impossibility for anyone to reclaim mandate in an election court. But nothing is absolute. No condition is permanent. According to INEC, Tinubu won in 12 states out of 36 to claim the highest number of votes, which was almost two million votes more than the closest rival – former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, who got 6,984,590 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party polled 6,601,533 votes. Obi won the poll in eleven states including Lagos, the hitherto eternal stronghold of the APC. He also came top in Abuja, the nation’s capital city; while Atiku also won in 12 states.

By INEC’s declaration, Tinubu came first, Atiku second while Peter Obi was placed third.  Unfortunately, the INEC verdict was diametrically opposed to what the people witnessed and recorded at the polling booths in many places. For the first time in recent times, there was massive voter enthusiasm. People trooped out in large numbers to vote for a new Nigeria, a new order. The solid assurances given by INEC to the effect that the election would be credible, free and fair boosted the confidence of Nigerians. There was this feeling that, perhaps, for the first time, Nigeria was going to have an election where people would be able to elect the man of their choice. Furthermore, the introduction of the BVAS machine, the acclaimed electronic digital device added to the confidence of Nigerians.

Things are bound to change, except if anyone has been told with certainty that there is no more hope for Nigeria. And so, here we are. Since Atiku Abubakar and PDP as well as Peter Obi and his Labour Party filed their petitions at the election tribunal, there is tension in the land. The petition of Peter Obi, in particular, appears to be the most abrasive. Peter Obi’s petition appears to be giving Tinubu and the APC sleepless nights. The election court is opening can of worms that no one can predict how it is going to end.

Onyekakeyah writes from Lagos