The Wages Of INEC

 By Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa

“Truth must be told, the non-transmission of results to the IReV portal may also reduce the confidence of the voting population in the electoral process.” – Hon Justice Inyang Okoro, Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

These are words on marble, coming from the highest court of the land. They simply summarise the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 general election and they remain indelible marks on the record and history of the electoral umpire.

We have now gradually come to the reality of the bastardy of democracy. An institution established to strengthen democracy is daily eroding it, through crooked elections, dribbling tactics and electoral malfeasance.

2023: Questions INEC Should, And Must, Answer

 By Chima Christian

From outright snatching of ballot boxes, to attempting to snatch the same ballot boxes through the courts, Nigeria has made substantial progress in election management and electoral law reforms since 1999.

*INEC Chair, Prof Yakubu

Yet, our politicians have never shed even an ounce of their desperation. At every turn of improvement, they quickly find a way to gain control of the system and confer undue advantages on themselves. Today, anyone who intends to tamper with the wishes of ordinary Nigerians needs not the services of thugs, but the services of ICT experts.

INEC’s Daylight Disenfranchisement Of Nigerians

 By Bolanle Bolawole

The supposedly Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ended the registration of (new) voters despite the fact that there were hundreds and thousands of would-be or intending voters milling around voter registration centres or points all over the country. We saw pictures of agitated Nigerians struggling to get registered.

*INEC Chair, Yakubu

Many slept at the registration centres. Others got there very early in the morning and left late in the night, doing that day-in day-out; yet, they failed to get their names on the voters’ register. I experienced the INEC shenanigans at its Agege office in Lagos where prospective voters were directed to come as early as 4am to register and then return by 8pm to start the waiting, pushing and shoving battle! And no matter how early one got there, there were close to 50 names already on the make-shift register! And only 70 names, out of the hundreds milling around, were entertained per day!

Yes, Atiku Should Go To Court

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

The decision of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to wage a legal challenge against the proclamation of President Muhammadu Buhari the winner of the February 23, 2019 presidential election has not received the encouragement of a few informed minds in the country.

*Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar

One respected voice, for instance, thinks that Atiku should instead join hands with other well-meaning Nigerians, the civil society and like-minded politicians to help to properly set up and strengthen democratic structures capable of hamstringing the repeat in future elections of the large-scale malpractices that allegedly marred the last elections – an issue that constitutes the main plank of Atiku’s suit.

APC Thieves Only Come To Steal And Kill – Gov Fayose

*Fayose 

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has raised the alarm that Nigeria under President Buhari was fast becoming a shame, describing the failed attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the Bayelsa State governorship election as clear invitation to anarchy. The governor, who said it was shameful that the two elections conducted by INEC under Buhari’s kinsman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu were inconclusive, called on all well-meaning Nigerians and the international community to rise up in condemnation of the APC government’s plot to destroy democracy in the country.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose who said everything under Buhari was becoming inconclusive, added that; “If in three days, INEC could not conduct credible election in Bayelsa State of just eight local governments, one wonders what will happen during the general elections in 2019.