By Lateef Adegbite
When President Muhammadu Buhari, of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, had assured Nigerians that their vote will count will in the 2023, general elections, which may have informed why many came out to exercise their Franchise in the 36 states of the Federation and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
The people may have come out to vote in their large number in different parts of the country with the believe that Prof. mahmood Yakubu led Independent National electoral Commission , INEC, will also keep to his promise of conducting a ‘’free, fair and transparent elections’’. Note Prior to the elections on Saturday, February 25, 2023, the INEC, Chairman, had boasted that’’ the election will be the best that would have been conducted in the country since 1999’’.
Indeed, Nigerians may have been disappointed by the turn out of events because of the allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the election in several parts of the country, particular, Rivers, Lagos, Imo and some parts of Edo state.
Signs that the election may not be free and fair in the oil Rivers state became pronounced when Nyensom Wike, who has endorsed Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state and APC, Presidential Candidate for the 2023, general elections, was said to have directed all Local Government Chairmen, Aides, and party Executive members ‘’ to deliver, Tinubu, the APC Candidate at the Presidential polls.
As a prelude to ensure that his preferred Candidate, TiAPC, wins the state’, his foot soldiers were said to have compromised the electoral officials. The governor was said to have doled out N9 million to each of the Local government Chairmen in the state in other to help facilitate the APC Candidate winning the state. Some other his Aides at the deployed to work at the polling units and wards were said to have been given the North American country of the United States, US, $100 and $50 each, depending on your posing. The Heads were given $100 and others $50. Those who were said to have rejected the money during the election were said to have gone back to collect the cash.
A source confirmed that the rigging in the state to jerk up the APC’S Candidate votes was done at the point of uploading the result to the Electoral umpire viewing portal at the FCT but Prof. Yakubu, the country’s Chief Returning officer had said at the Collation centre in Abuja, that rigging was usually done at the Collation centre.
. Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, may have known that the Presidential election will be rigged in favour of the APC, by some governors working for him as he has demanded for upload of the February 25, 2023, Presidential election results to the Commission server immediately. He may have alluded to Wike , Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Hope Uzodinma, his two Counterparts in Lagos and Imo states respectively.
Atiku, the PDP, flag bearer, had argued that ‘’there is need to checkmate the governors who are trying to compromise the results at the Local government and Collation level, describing it as a negation for anyone to subvert the will of the people as freely expressed in their votes in the last Presidential elections.
The Leadership of the Labour party, LP, may have also known that the Presidential election result are being Compromised that he has raised alarm citing ‘’the manipulation and manufacturing of new results by INEC officials in several states across the country, including Edo, where one Comfort Muoneke , a 73 year-old woman and two others were arrested in Benin city, the state Capital , by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, with 20 ,PVCs, deployed to monitor the February 25, 2023, Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Julius Abure, the LP, National Chairman, had accused the Commission of ‘’compromise, working closely with the ruling APC’’. Despite the fact that Prof . Yakubu , the INEC .Chairman and the country’s Chief returning officer, has not yet announced the winner of the elections, the LP, Chairman, who could not hide his feelings has called for ‘’the cancellation of the results described as manufactured , stressing that’’ the party will only accept results obtained at the polling units’’.He will want the Katsina state born Nigerian President to keep to his words of ensuring that the 2023 general elections are free, fair and credible.
Akin Osuntokun, Director General of the LP, may have spoken the mind of Peter Obi, the party Presidential Candidate when he said that he is hoping that the Commission will do ‘’the right thing regarding the just concluded Presidential election. He noted that the delay in uploading of results on its election results portal raises some questions on the conduct of the election.
Festus Okoye, the Commission, Chairman, Information and Voter Education , had made Nigerians to understand that its results viewing portal, ReV, is facing some Challenges and not that it has been sabotaged or Compromised by any politician. He had said that ‘’outstanding problems will be resolved soon’’ but that was how far he could go.
Perhaps, the pressure from Civil Society Organisations and party Leaders on the Commission over the delay by state INEC officials at the state level and FCT, to upload the results to the Commission viewing portal. There was drama at the collection centre as Senator Dino Melaye, Atiku’s agent during the election has challenged the INEC boss to direct the state Returning officers to declare that the result they are presenting are what they have uploaded into the Commission viewing portal. He has threatened that if the INEC boss cannot do that , he should not expect them to rubber any result that would be presented at the Collation centre. The Opposition part agents had challenged the Ekiti and Kara states results on grounds of over voting, insisting that it should be cancelled.
For the results that had been declared in Lagos state, Sunday, February, 26, 2023,through Monday, February , 27, 2023, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, of the APC, had won in II, Local government Areas , while Obi, his closest rival, won in nine LGAs. The APC , Candidate was said to have won in Lagos Mainland, Ikorodu, Ekpe, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos Island, Badagry Apapa , Ifako-Ijaiye Surulere and Mushin.
The LP, Candidate, may have proved that he is not a baby politician, as he gave the APC Candidate a good fight, a in a state described as his stronghold by winning in nine LGAs, which include, Ajeromi Ifelodun, Oshodi Isolo, Etiosa, Kosofe,Amuwo Odofin, Somolu , and Surulere, home LGA, of Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of House of Representatives and Babatunde Fashola, a former governor of the state and now minister of Works and Housing.
Going by the result declared by the Lagos state the Returning Officer, Obi, the LP, Candidate also won in Ojo Alimosho, and Ikeja, the Seat of the state government. The LP Flag bearer was said to have polled a total vote of 582,454 votes to Tinubu, of the APC’s 571,575 votes.
Given that Tinubu, could not win Lagos state, may have informed why the Area boys, popular, ‘’Agberos’’ had attacked the Igbo traders at the popular Computer Village, Alaba International Market, Lagos Island, and Lagos Trade Fair Complex, markets, forcing the traders to close down to allow temper to calm down. The APC Flag bearer was said to have have called the aagrieved Area boys to order, urging them not to do anything that would heighten the tension in the state as the people have voted for their preferred Candidate which is the beauty of Democracy. Whether the Agberos will liste listen remain to be seen.
The biggest shocker to Tinubu,in the 2023, general election was the loss of Katsina, home state of President Muhammadu Buhari,to Atiku, Candidate of the PDP. Atiku, had garnered a total vote of 489,045 votes to Tinubu’s 482,283, votes. Atiku had won in 13, LGAs to Tinubu’s 21. He was said to have also lost Kano state, to Rabiu Kwankwaso, the New Nigeria’s People’s Party, NNPP, which may jeopardise his Presidential ambition.
The biggest loser in the 2023, general elections was Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa state and Ntional Chairman of the APC, who had lost his polling unit to the Presidential LP Candidate during the election was said to have failed to deliver Shehu Tukur , who had lost out to Ahmed Wadada, of the Social Democratic Party, SDP,, fueling speculations making the rounds that the four members of the ruling APC, who defected to contest the National Assembly election on the platform of the unknown SDP, due to the alleged irregularities in the party’s primary elections last year have sent a message to the APC, National Chairman that he political feather weight.
