- Says 70% Imo’s guber votes harvested, written
From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), the South-East Zone of the Civil Liberties Organisation (South-East CLO), the South-East Based Coalition of Human Rights and Democracy Organisations (SBCHRDOs) and the Human Rights, Social Development and Environmental Foundation (Port Harcourt) have said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Judiciary have brutally compromised and bastardised; to the extent that their present headships are portraying unchecked public characters that are unfriendly to principles of globally standardised democracy and rule of law.
The groups called on Nigerians particularly democratic forces to rise and seize the golden opportunity of the exit dates of the two enemy-symbols of the country’s most important public democratic institutions: Judiciary and Electoral Umpire to put Nigeria’s democratic process back on track.
In a joint statement signed by the Chairman of Intersociety Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi on behalf of other rights groups said that Nigeria’s two most important public democratic institutions; the Judiciary under the Supreme Court of Nigeria headed by CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola (JSC) and Independent National Electoral Commission headed by Prof Mahmood Yakubu which have failed the people.
The statement read in part: “the qualities of individuals occupying membership of the National Judicial Council are also direct opposites of the rule of law, democracy and human rights compliant and ruled Society. The last time we checked, the exit date for the current CJN (Justice Olukayode Ariwoola) is August 12, 2024 when he will clock mandatory 70 years retirement age and leave the stage. Prof Mahmood Yakubu as the current INEC Chairman will leave the stage mandatorily on October 21, 2025, having been first appointed on October 21, 2015 and will be completing his second term of five years on October 21, 2025. By letters of the law and convention, Prof Mahmood Yakubu as INEC Chairman will be unfit to conduct ‘Anambra’s off-circle Governorship Election of Nov 2025 and that of Osun in 2026 other than those of Edo and Ondo in 2024.
“We collectively observed that a rare opportunity provided by the letters of the law and convention for Nigerians particularly the country’s Democratic Forces has offered itself for purpose of redeeming the country’s battered and bastardized democratic process and take back her Judiciary and Electoral Umpire in order to return the country and its democratic process back on track.
“To ensure that the two most important public democratic institutions in Nigeria (Judiciary and INEC) are not allowed relapsing into the hands of ‘anti democratic elements’ and pariah others as their succeeding heads, the ‘prodemocracy revolutionary’ content of the industrial actions of the Labour Unions and Rights and Democracy CSOs must be activated and used to ground the National Assembly and stop them from rubber-stamping compromised elements and pariah others as presidential nominees for the posts of CJN and INEC Chair.
” The Labouqqr Unions and CSOs must from the beginning beam their searchlights on those the presidency nominated for the two top public seats. Time has also come for the Labor Unions and CSOs to rise beyond “industrial action on the basis of workers’ pay packages alone” and expand it to include “Public Interest downing of industrial tools”. To achieve this, the Industrial Action in Nigeria must be returned to pre Adams Oshiomohole era of “industrial action in the daytime and suspension of it in the hours of the blue law” and under controversial circumstances.
“It has severally been investigated and found that most of democratic, judicial, political, defence, security and safety and economic tragedies facing Nigeria and Nigerians today are traced to the doorstep of the former Government of Retired Major Gen Muhammad Buhari and Prof Yemi Osinbajo which virtually abandoned multi-democratic principles and conventions in Nigeria as a multi-religious and cultural country; to a form of “Caliphate” system of governance and its accompanied dictatorial and totalitarian idiosyncrasies.
“The above disastrous style of governance under Retired Major Gen Muhammad Buhari and Prof Yemi Osinbajo had ensured and supervised bastardization and destruction of traces of democratic institutions and processes including appointment of incurable conformists and democratically pariah persons into Nigeria’s democratic public institutions particularly Policing Bodies, Judiciary and Electoral Umpire. The country’s legal system under Buhari and Osinbajo also became one of the worst hit; to the extent that most of Nigeria’s democracy enabling laws got afflicted with “ouster clauses” or anti democratic, anti rule of law and anti human rights provisions.
“The democracy-friendly sections of the country’s existing ‘grundnorm’ (1999 Constitution) were militarised and bastardised through ‘black-market’ enactment of dictatorial laws and administrative pronouncements; to the extent that they were administratively elevated and enforced above the country’s existing ‘grundnorm’ in brazen and blatant violation of its Section 1 (1), (2) and (3).
“It is therefore not surprising that the present Government of Ahmed Bola Tinubu, with a brazen crisis of “input legitimacy”, is continuing with such disastrous policies and actions of the Buhari era including election rigging, battered and compromised judiciary and electoral umpire as well as serial borrowings and associated squander-mania. It must be noted that Nigeria is presently cruising to the crossroads irretrievable turnaround. Unless lawful revolutionary measures are timely activated by the remainder of the country’s old generation democratic forces and emerging new ones; otherwise the country will become a history; to the extent of its fragmented enclaves spending decades, if not centuries going round the circles of under-development and intractable backwardness. Nigeria as presently found, is in dire need of rescue and there is urgent need to revolutionalise Nigeria’s public democratic institutions such as policing bodies, judiciary and electoral umpire.
“This must include flushing out their present top heads in line with letters of the law and conventions. There is also need to set up a national legal think tank to review all the federal enactments made from 2011 to 2023 with a view to repealing those found obnoxious and inconsistent with global democratic principles and democracy friendly sections of the 1999 Constitution.
“70% of Imo’s “700,000 governorship votes” harvested and written.As correctly predicted in our joint Press Conference of October 29, 2023 and Press Statement of Nov 9, 2023; our latest findings have shown that not less than 70% or “490, 000 votes” announced by INEC as “total lawful votes cast” arising from the Nov 11, 2023 Imo Governorship Election were composed of “harvested and written results”. It was also found that most of the “540,000 votes” allocated to the INEC-declared winner of the shambolic poll were harvested and written. Out of the remaining 210, 000 validly cast votes in all, at least 40% were independently found to have been garnered through voter intimidation and corruption including vote-buying.
” The allocated “540,000 votes” to the INEC-declared winner also magically surpassed the total lawful votes cast arising from the 2023 Presidential Poll in the State (459,261) garnered by the trio of Peter Obi of Labor Party (352, 904), Ahmed Bola Tinubu of APC (66, 171) and Atiku Abubakar of PDP (30, 004). Of the three Governorship Polls held (in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa); Imo, with 27 LGAs and most difficult terrains (according to INEC’s earlier statements), magically became the fastest to be delivered in less than 24 hours as against Bayelsa’s three days with only 8 LGAs.
“In the Imo Governorship Poll, there were also no reports of election or result cancellation despite the State being the most security and safety challenged of the three election-held States. Imo’s 27 LGAs were further found to have become the “fastest, freest and safest” to vote, collate and announce “results”. The State also became the South-East State with “largest turnout of voters” or “33% of the registered voting population of 2,2m” since Nigeria’s 1979 General Elections or in a period of past 34 years,” the rights groups stated.