The recent governorship election held in Kogi and Bayelsa State has been described as one of the worst in recent times, and is also believed to have put the final nail in the coffin as far as conducting credible elections in Nigeria under Buhari's administration, is concern.
Since the Buhari administration came to power in 2015, the country is yet to witness an election capable of being adjudged as credible. It only gets worse as the ruling party realized it lost the confidence of Nigerians, thus, resorted to "winning at all cost" against the wishes of the masses.
Following the recent awful governorship election conducted by INEC in the aforementioned States, the process has been rightly described as one in which "Presidency financed, Thugs decide, Police support, INEC declares, and Court affirms".
But rigging can be done in more ways than one. Beside, voter inducement, thuggery, violence, voter intimidation, vote figure alteration, among others, there's this particular one that has been controversial since its introduction in 2015 — the use of Card Readers.
The introduction of card readers was believed to be a move in the right direction as INEC seeks to improve the credibility of the nation's electoral process. However, the inconsistencies in the use of the device across the country, and Buhari's refusal to sign the Electoral Ammendment Bill, has turned card readers into a systematic rigging machine.
Prior to the last February 23rd presidential election, INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu repeatedly assured Nigerians on live TV, that the use of card readers is compulsory, and results would be consider as 'null and void' in areas that fail to use the device.
But what happened on election day was quite the opposite especially in the North, where card readers were reportedly not used in many polling units. Yet, the results were collated by INEC. This according to activists, is a clear case of vote manipulation in favour of the APC since the South had to strictly follow INEC's instructions, while the North rides freely.
But that's not the whole story. INEC's denial of having a central server where results from card readers are being transmitted, sent shock waves as Nigerians wonder exactly what the device is used for in the first place. There's also the argument by INEC, that electronic voting is not part of the electoral process since the new electoral act is not effected. So, what exactly is the essence of necessitating the use of a device not recognized by the electoral process? A clever way to reduce votes from the south, perhaps?
Well, the head of Leadership and Accountability Initiative (LAI), Nwazuruahu Henry, has a word of advice for Nigerians as the country looks forward to 2023 general elections. He said, since card readers are not recognized by the electoral process, it must not be allowed in the South unless it is backed by law.
He said, "Unless there’s a law making card reader compulsory during elections, anywhere you see INEC deploying it in the South, fling the nonsense away."
The APC’s strategy of using force to win elections in the country seem to be working out quite well. If despite the shame of an election conducted in Kogi and Bayelsa State, INEC still proceeds to declare APC winners, it goes without saying that violence and thuggery has finally been made part of Nigeria's electoral process.
