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The former Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Jerry Obasi, has rated the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in this year’s general election very low.
Obasi, in this interview with OBINNA ODOGWU, also spoke on the ethnic profiling in Lagos and some other places during the last elections.
How would you rate the performance of INEC at the 2023 general elections?
INEC, honestly, fell short of the expectation of Nigerians. Buhari, as far as his government is concerned, said he would leave a legacy for a more transparent election because at this point, the president, one way or the other, did not show so much interest in the last election. In fact, in most of the places in the North, the difference between the winners of that election in the North and the losers, the difference in the number of votes will not be up to five percent.
For instance in Kaduna, el-Rufai’s candidate, Uba Sani, got 730,000 votes. Then, the PDP guy who came second got 719,000 votes. Even then, we know that that election was actually rigged. INEC failed woefully because the election was straight, the agreement before Nigerians and the international community is that, first and foremost, any vote that did not pass through BVAS is a nullity and that after votes are cast, all these votes will be in the whole transmitted to the INEC portal for the whole world to see, for the perusal of both the winner and the loser, so that there won’t be incident of good losers or bad losers. But INEC fell short of this.
And if you watched, in the history of the Nigerian elections, even during the Operation Wetie where elections were rigged in the South West that aggregated and cumulated into crises that started to some extent what led to the civil war, there was no protest in that election as this. Even as we are speaking, protests are still going on in so many parts of the country. In fact, Mahmood Yakubu has brought himself to a lot of odium before the international community and before Nigerians. And I know that the only way out for Mahmood Yakubu is just to resign because he cannot superintend over any further election in Nigeria because the opportunity given to him, he threw it into the well, and that is very, very unfortunate. So, INEC performed very dismally, hence, the arguments and litigations. Even though there are litigations as it were, the quantum of litigations is what eye cannot see and what ear cannot hear.
What was the situation in your state, Ebonyi? Was it any better?
Not at all. For instance now, there is going to be a rerun in almost seven wards. For example, in Ivo, my local government there will be rerun in almost all the wards where the issue of BVAS and accreditation was completely abandoned. There is an incident at Umobo ward where one young man who is supposed to be an INEC official turned himself into a thug and the youths became angry and restive against him when he slapped one lawyer who came to cast his vote. Because of the perception that he was not going to vote for the APC candidate, he started slapping the lawyer to the point where even his party men were against the boy. The next thing the guy who is supposed to be an INEC staff did was to carry the BVAS and enter inside the bush. The youths now went restive and accosted them there and beat the hell out of the guy. When these youths were on the guy, the army people now came, supported the youths and made a meal of the young, mischievous man who actually was supposed to help in building his own future; because the future of every youth and every nation lies in her electoral process. That’s one. Then two, in Amaonye ward, the entire polling booth in Amaonye ward was cancelled by INEC because there was nothing like BVAS and accreditation there. It was just a free for all. In places like Ndiokoroukwu ward, almost six or seven polling units were also cancelled. In Amaeze ward, it’s the same drama. Then you now come to a place like Ikwo, your guess is as good as mine. Like in the senatorial election also, everybody was looking at the side of Linus Okorie but in the end, in cahoots with INEC, a different result was announced. Linus Okorie whom I think now is in the courts was not announced the winner of that election. And in that election, it was very clear like in Ebonyi, even though I am not considering the activities of the presidential campaign council because in Ebonyi, we were no longer looking at them because they only came there to amass money and fill their pockets.
Everybody here was for the Labour Party. And to be sincere also, Labour, to a very great extent, had credible candidates. In Central, we were looking at Senator Emma Onwe of APGA to possibly win the election. Even though rerun will take place in Ikwo, but if you look at the Central, APGA won two local governments in the governorship election. That also will show you what is supposed to aggregate in the first election because Senator Onwe is very popular. He is also experienced. He has some level of international repute and he had gone to the senate.
So, you can’t compare him with his opponents in that election. But suffice to say this, the election in Ebonyi is not different from the one we had everywhere. I stand to be corrected. But the truth remains that with the quantum of polling units cancelled; with the quantum of the repeat elections that will take place in most of the wards in Ebonyi State will at least suffice to support my argument. In fact, the truth remains this, the 2023 elections, especially the presidential election, it was like Armageddon for Nigerians; it was like Armageddon for the Nigerian youths. It was an election that is as though there can’t be another election away from that. And the only time Nigerians have to change her future politically and electorally is now without which the country will remain unsung just like the way it is now.
For instance, before the election, I wouldn’t know where Mr President went and brought in Emefiele. Until now, Nigerians are still suffering for doing nothing. I have not seen a place in the fiscal or monetary policy where the referee, the Central Bank, will deliberately refuse to make money circulate. A lot of people died inside the banks; a lot of people died at the queues; a lot of people were frustrated; a lot of people had heart attacks and so on and so forth. And now the excuse was that they didn’t want Tinubu to access money.
Somebody like me, I told myself that this thing is not true; that they are doing this thing to starve the opponents of funds. And later, the rumour was widespread that a lot of billions of physical cash was given to Tinubu and the APC governors. And Nigerians, hitherto, have been suffering for doing nothing. During elections, cash is supposed to flow because of logistics. People will transport themselves to the polling booths, hire vehicles to go to places, buy food, water; logistics will be provided pronto for INEC officials.
And these things were deliberately denied the people; denied the opposition. In fact, the most rigged election in the history of Nigeria is this election. There are different calculated and organised means of rigging this election even when this election is supposed to be the freest of all. And it’s unfortunate. In fact, the rigging of this election started from the major political parties from where the Igbo were denied the presidential ticket by the APC and the PDP. What business do you have by giving Tinubu the ticket when they have done eight years under Obasanjo and they are going to finish their eight-year term under Osinbajo?
Is it the rerun in Ebonyi for the governorship or the legislative seats?
It is for the state House of Assembly seats. But the truth is just this, you cannot separate a part of the water from the other in the same cup. These two elections are the same election because it is in the same polling units and the same time that these votes will be recast. Most Nigerians are not that civilised electorally that you will say now that they want to separate this from that. And away from it, there were even more malpractices in the governorship election than the state assembly elections because of the hydra headed interest that is greeting the governorship election and the conspiracy with the INEC officials.
Now they are wearing kid gloves with regards to the issue of the governorship election. They’re trying to rest it now on the victim which is the state assembly elections to make it look as if INEC is working. What is wrong now with also cancelling the governorship election and calling for a rerun? So, back to your question in issue, the election in Ebonyi is one horrible kind of election.
INEC has announced somebody the winner, the argument is that you should go to court; and I think the APGA and the PDP guy, I think they are in court to challenge the outcome of that guber election and other elections for Senate and House of Representatives.
But the truth is just that the level of conspiracy and the level of corruption in our electoral body calls for concern; because we are behaving as if we have another country away from Nigeria. We are behaving as though we don’t want another country to emanate from Nigeria or break away from Nigeria but everything we are doing is suggesting practically that we don’t want the country to remain one.
In other words, you are saying that the governorship election in Ebonyi was not free, fair and transparent?
It is not free and fair. If I say that it is free and fair, then I am not fair to myself; then I will not sleep well. My conscience will disturb me. That election was not free and fair. It fell short of the requirements of a free and fair election. Absolutely, it was not free, fair and transparent. It was bereft of transparency.
How would you react to the incidents of electoral violence recorded in Lagos where some people who are not Yoruba became subjects of attacks during the elections?
It is unfortunate. Lagos is an integral part of Nigeria. Lagos is formerly the capital of this country where people are supposed to live without threats of insecurity. But quickly after the first election, it was very clear. Then, MC Oluomo and their attack dogs armed themselves and went to the streets and said that no Igbo person should come out to cast their votes. What does that mean? But it is unfortunate that Nigerians, the presidency and the international community, leaders alike are watching these things happening. And now, they are pushing the Igbo to dead ends. But I know that it won’t continue till eternity. I am quite aware that if this thing becomes the order of the day, there must be a way that the Igbo should defend themselves; there must be a way for them to resist this madness because we are all Nigerians.
If you are carrying guns, there are guns everywhere. You don’t have a monopoly of violence. And this is a semblance of what happened in 1967 that in the end people had to defend themselves. And that is what I think may end up happening in Lagos because the Igbo have to defend themselves. They don’t have to play second or third fiddle. Are you now saying that it is wrong that Obi should run for presidency which ordinarily is his right? And in the actual sense, it is the turn of the Igbo because the country is on a tripod – Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba. Now, because it is the turn of the Igbo, hell will be let loose. What kind of nonsense is that? It is unfortunate. In fact, my heart bleeds. Each time I remember what happened in Lagos and the way this election went, my heart bleeds. I lose sleep, in fact.
