The dust raised by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s open letter, accusing President MuhammaduBuhari of plotting to rig this year’s general elections is still to settle.
The social media has been abuzz with sharp rejoinders, many of which question the moral authority of the former president to accuse others of planning transgressions he himself condoned while in office.
Ironically, the most virulent criticisms of the latest Obasanjo letter entitled ‘Points of Concern and Action’ came from those who hailed him in 2015 when, he, in the usual fashion, criticised the then president Goodluck Jonathan and endorsed Buhari’s candidacy.
The acerbic remarks and rejoinders against Obasanjo do not, however, invalidate the concerns he raised about the conduct of the forthcoming general elections.
Indeed, we believe that our country deserves to have free, fair and credible elections that reflect the true wishes of the majority of the citizens. We support the call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), regardless of the quarters from which it is made, that only the true winners are entrusted with the people’s mandates.
Many instances of election malpractices have been experienced in the past. They included voting by underage persons; collusion with INEC officials and security agents to snatch and stuff ballot boxes with illegally thumb-printed ballots and circumvention of the process during collation of results.
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The conduct of INEC officials in the previous elections, even as recent as the Osun and Ekiti governorship polls justify that concerns be raised and measures sought to prevent subversion of the will of the people.
The consequences of rigged polls this time around may be too grave and costly for the country and her citizens. Allegations and counter-allegations by stalwarts of the leading political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some of the other smaller parties, in the run-up to the polls have set the nation on the edge. Only a free and fair conduct, devoid of procedural irregularities and manipulations will guarantee the much-desired peace during and after the elections. INEC has a very crucial role to play in this regard.
We cannot afford to continue to pride ourselves as a front line African democracy without credible elections.
This newspaper notes the information by INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, that all the statutory funds required to conduct the elections successfully had been released to the commission.
We also note the assurances by Prof. Yakubu that INEC was capable and fully prepared, and that nobody within or outside the commission could manipulate the polls.
This election is a test of the integrity, impartiality and competence of the INEC chairman and his team. The commission must fulfill the role of an unbiased umpire, giving all the political parties and their candidates the equal chance and all eligible voters a fair opportunity to exercise their franchise.
Prof. Yakubu’s INEC must make this year’s polls Nigeria’s best ever by ensuring that every eligible voter votes and every vote counts.
Yes, every vote must count.
