INEC And Wike: An Unholy Union Against Justice, Democracy – David Okumgba

Activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Rivers State have met condemnation.

Most recent of such condemnation is from David Okumgba, Zonal Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, South South Zone, who says, ‘The show of shame displayed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Rivers State has presented salient questions on the minds of political observers and the citizens of the State.

‘Never in the history of our dear State, right from the inception of the political era in 1999, has Democracy being raped with the umpires at all levels, playing major roles in the desecration process.

‘Rivers State has never experienced the violations of the rights of Citizens to freely choose who should govern them. This current trend has cast questions on whether INEC officials truly understand the definition of democracy as defined by Google, which clearly defines it as” a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives”.

‘The gross violation of the Democratic process, is unacceptable and will not be allowed to alter an existing precedence of allowing people the right to choose their representatives through the ballot.

‘As peace loving citizens of Rivers State, it is appalling that the cries of Rivers men and women, who have embarked on series of protests to alert relevant authorities of the violation of their civic rights have not only fell on deaf ears but have been trampled upon by the resumption of the collation of results of an election that was abruptly suspended and electoral materials and processes shrouded with secrecy and bias since March 10,2019.

‘It is no longer news that the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Charge of INEC Rivers State, Obo Effanga, has been sent to the State to cause chaos and install Nyesom Wike at all cost, against the wish of the people. If this in not the case, then why would INEC resume the electoral process, 21 days after the suspension of the botched election, in violation of the Electoral Act and without addressing salient questions asked by the governorship candidates of the African Action Congress (AAC), the African Democratic Coingress (ADC) and the  All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) during a stake holders meeting with INEC officials in Port Harcourt over the weekend:

‘These questions as listed below, are critical to the acceptance by all political parties of any pronouncement made by INEC on the March 9, Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

(1) In whose custody were the collated results? Why are the collated results not in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria since INEC had been accused of partisanship?

(2) How many LGAs were collated before the suspension of the collation process? How did the Commission arrive at 17 LGAs?

(3) During the fact finding mission by INEC, how many parties were invited? How did they get their facts since Mrs. Mbu-Agbamuche confessed in the interactive session in Port-Harcourt that they carried out their fact findings without inviting all the parties involved for their submissions?

(4) Who are the electoral officers changed in the process and why were they changed?

(5) What is the proof of the authenticity of collated results since INEC and the Fact Finding Committee were already biased?

(6) Since INEC is aware that the Rivers election/ suspension of collation of results, and the legality of the Fact Finding Committee is before the court of law for determination, why are they going ahead with this process?

‘The silence of INEC at the time speculations were at its highest level, alleging the possible doctoring of the Collated results to favour Wike and the sudden announcement of the collation of results from 17 local government areas, 21 days after, can only be the handy work of an umpire, eager to please his pay master.

‘Engr. Biokpomabo Awara, the AAC Governorship candidate and other concerned stakeholders had called out severally for the immediate release of the collated results which showed the AAC clearly in clear lead as announced by the Various Electoral Officers.

‘This attempt by INEC to subvert a process that ought to produce a government for the people and by the people will not only lead to anarchy but could set a dangerous precedence in our frail democracy if something is not urgently done by  President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Chairman of INEC, Mamood Yakubu.

‘No individual has the right to sacrifice the destinies of innocent citizens on the altar of his insatiable lust for money. The time to act is now, and we are calling for the immediate halt to the process  that has denied political parties equal opportunities to participate.’