2023: Judiciary Charged To Redeem Integrity Of Nigeria’s Electoral System

A cross-section of residents of Enugu, Wednesday, charged the Nigerian judiciary to salvage the nation’s democracy by being above board while presiding various petitions in the aftermath of the 2023 general elections. According to them, the Independent National Electoral Commission’s ‘double standard’ has cast doubt on the credibility of the electoral umpire.

James Okpe, a teacher, said he had lost fate in INEC following different interpretations of electronic transmission of results. In his words, “I get confused everyday over what INEC told us before the election, and what the same INEC is telling us presently. INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System would end election rigging. The same INEC is insinuating that electronic transmission of results is not compulsory.

“I am beginning to feel that BIVAS is a tool in the hands of INEC to manipulate election results to the highest bidder. Otherwise, why are INEC lawyers defending manual transmission of results as against what we were made to believe?”

Ikechukwu Odo, a lawyer, said the judiciary had got a role to play in rescuing Nigeria’s democracy.

According to him, “If you read the Electoral Law 2022, it gives room for different interpretations. And that is why many Nigerians might be disappointed in the outcomes of election petitions. If the same law gives INEC the option of manual collation of results, it shows that it is deceptive because ‘faster politicians’ might become victorious at the tribunal despite provable rigging. But the judiciary can still redeem the situation by being morally objective.”

Meletus Ozioko, a pastor, told THE WHISTLER that if politicians were aware of what INEC is using to defend itself presently, especially against the petition filed by Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, it would have been business as usual. He said, “I get disturbed as INEC now appears like a political party. I had expected INEC to be neutral than saying that Obi has no case, and that president-elect Bola Tinubu of APC was duly elected. If the court is relying on evidence of INEC, how can justice be done? INEC is also making us believe that uploading of election results can be done anytime, and no more real time as they made us believe.

“But I hope that the judiciary will rescue us. If the contrary is the case, I doubt if I will ever vote again in this country.”