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Nigerians were scammed in the just concluded national election. The election and its processes were anything but fair. No wonder all of the major candidates that participated in the election were headed to the court challenging both the process and the outcome. Short of claiming outright victory, both the Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are calling for either a rerun or cancelation of the election .
It is very likely that the courts rather than the people would decide the next president. Supreme Court President of Nigeria. Too bad for democracy.
Many knocks have come the way of the Independent National Electoral Commis- sion (INEC) since the February 25 presidential election. Though people are less enthusiastic about INEC and its future promises, there are people that hope INEC would use March 18 to redeem its battered image, that’s if lessons were learnt from the last concluded exercise.
In the last election, INEC scammed Nigeria. The commission pretended that she was deploying advanced technology that will ensure credible election. The National Assembly enacted a beautiful legislation which it said will lead to efficient and accountable electoral system. Parts of the innovation introduced included easy access to polling units, BIVAS accreditation and electronic transmission of election results in real time and mitigation of electoral fraud and violence.
What was eventually delivered was day-light robbery. Signs of betrayed hope began to emerge as INEC became less than transparent in the election management, especially in the transmission and collation of results. The election process was ruined by lapses ranging from violence, ballot box snatching and delayed voting. These were avoidable lapses assuming the electoral umpire was interested in delivering fair and credible election.
It is sad that President Buhari, even in the twilight of his days, couldn’t redeem himself by giving Nigeria a credible election. The February 25 election will go down in his- tory as the worst electoral fraud committed against a people committed and determined for change. That APC won this election at first ballot to me is hard to comprehend.
I wish to commend all the youths who fulfilled their civic obligation. Some were jeered, kicked, harassed, threatened, beaten and wounded, yet they endured. That INEC didn’t live up to expectation is not your fault. The deceit by INEC shows the struggle for a good Nigeria continues.
For all my ‘Obi-dient’ brothers and sisters, particularly the youths who want a radical departure from the old order, I commend you for making this election very exciting and interesting. INEC may have disappointed but trust me, even their declared winner heard you loud and clear. The fear of the people just started. Know it in your heart that the struggle for a new Nigeria is a legitimate struggle.
Without doubt, it was a tough, tight and interesting election. I don’t like the outcome and so do many of us. My little girl cried her
eyes red with tears. Her choice of candidate was different from mine. Despite our differences, I knew what she stood for and the kind of future she deserved. I had to lecture her that democracy does not always produce the best outcome, hence she must learn to manage her emotions, particularly when things don’t go her way.
Let me hope that the President-elect will be a better leader, a president of all. Hope- fully there will be no first percenters and that the focus will be on the country first.
If this result stands, I will urge the new leader to endeavour to unify the country. He must rule with fairness and bear no malice against anyone. He must treat as one even those that were opposed to him. He must
factor in the frustrations of the youths, particularly the radical ‘obidients’ that yearn for radical change and a better future. Their demands are just and must be addressed. Their talent, ingenuity, creativity and innovation which were clearly demonstrated through this election should not be ignored. They are resources that should be harnessed for a better Nigeria. For a fact, despite what I consider a chaotic retreat by President Buhari, APC as a political party has shown resilience, having posted very impressive results in some areas for a ruling party that has caused so much misery and pain to the people. I once wrote that anyone that survived this administration deserves an award and I am still convinced about this. We the people deserve an out- standing survival award from APC.
Before now, I felt, it’s extremely difficult to forgive APCs incompetence and the people who packaged and foisted the outgoing president on the country. I felt no one in their right senses would vote for APC again. I campaigned for anything but APC. I felt a coalition of forces by the opposition parties would have led to a better outcome. I didn’t anticipate the elongation of the current legacy of deaths, pains, agony and frustration witnessed under the dispensation.
I wish the just concluded election were free, fair and credible. I wish INEC had lived up to our common expectations. I wish the thuggery, violence, vote suppression, delayed voting and compromised officials that marred the process never happened.
God willing, lessons may have been learnt and all the avoidable mistakes of the past will be corrected.
