Former Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife of Anambra state has expressed confidence that the court of competent jurisdiction would quash the result released by the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud which declared Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC winner of last Saturday’s presidential election in the country.
He contended that all the rigging platforms would be exposed by the time the aggrieved electorate in Nigeria would have done with the assemblage of all the facts and figures associated with the electoral process.
Ezeife who spoke to newsmen on phone in reaction to the electioneering exercise and its attendant results released by INEC, expressed disappointment with the conduct of INEC officials and their materials during the exercise which he said came short of the expectations of the masses.
According to Ezeife, “we are disappointed with the entire process but all hopes are not yet lost because by the time we will assemble the facts and figures associated with the entire process, heads will roll and the stolen mandate will be recovered”.
In his own reaction, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Ikenna Egbuna simply said: ” Don’t mind INEC and APC, we shall all meet them in court”.
“They think they are too clever to rig the election”, said Egbuna in a telephone interview yesterday.
Another legal practitioner in Onitsha, Anambra state, Obiora Muojeke, in his own reaction, described the entire process as a sham, daylight robbery on Nigerians and an abuse of the electoral process.
Speaking to newsmen at his law chambers in Onitsha yesterday, Muojeke wondered how the results were churned out manually without recourse to the use of electronic devices earlier promised by the electoral umpire, INEC.
He contended that these malpractices are capable of eroding the confidence reposed on INEC by the Nigerian electorate and by extension the international community.
He, therefore, urged the losers to complete their evidence and channel the same to the Election Petitions Tribunal for adjudication
He also charged the tribunal being the last hope of the electorate to give the petition an accelerated hearing, to enable the case to be determined before the swearing-in of a new president on May 29,: to avoid heating up the polity which he noted might in turn lead to uncontrollable demonstrations.
He charged the electorate to remain calm in the face of this unwarranted provocation and watch the outcome of the court of competent jurisdiction.
Meantime, a civil society organization, Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders Foundation, HURIDE has called for the immediate arrest, probe and prosecution of INEC Chairman, Mahmoud for violating the electoral laws during the presidential election.
Specifically, HURIDE said Mahmoud violated sections 63 and 64 of the electoral Act 2022 signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, after it was passed into law by the national assembly, having stipulated that electronic devices would be used for elections in the country.
Chairman of HURIDE, Dede Uzor A. Uzor who made the call in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Onitsha, said the use of BIVAS and IReV devices was recommended for the elections but while BIVAS were used to accredit voters during last Saturday’s presidential election, IReV was not used in uploading and transmitting the results, probably out of parochial interest by INEC and its collaborators to deliver a candidate of their choice.
“We are very much aware that the federal government doled out about N300 billion to INEC to acquire these electronic devices to conduct a credible election and international bodies like EU, AU and ECOWAS also doled out additional billions of dollars too and now INEC has disappointed both Nigerians and the international community”.
“Therefore, I call on EFCC and ICPC to arrest, probe and prosecute Mahmoud to find out how those monies were spent by INEC”.
” If the losses of the election wish to go to tribunal, they can go but personally, I don’t even have confidence in the Nigerian tribunal because they have been infected by the corruption virus”.
On embarking on a peaceful demonstration. Dede Uzor noted that it is also the right of citizens to do so, provided such a demonstration is peaceful and not allowed to be hijacked by hoodlums.
“As far as I am concerned, Tinubu does not have the mandate of Nigerians but that of Mahmoud who singlehandedly appointed him. His government is not a legitimate one since he does not have the mandate”.
