The African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has stated that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission is incompetent and unable to conduct credible elections.
Goldennewsng reports that Sowore stated that Nigerians were anticipating elections but could not force INEC to hold elections when responding to questions on Wednesday at “The Roundtable,” a PUNCH Newspapers program.
Sahara Reporters’ editor claimed that INEC had previously only conducted selections rather than elections.
He said that every time there was an election, INEC worked with the government in power to confuse the public and deter voters from voting.
“I participated in the election in 2019, and I can categorically state, as I have repeatedly stated, that there was no election in 2019. However, this was the beginning: I was anticipating the election in my village when INEC abruptly delayed it by, I believe, two weeks on election day.
“…Some of our employees who traveled from the United States, Europe, and South Africa to vote had to leave. And this was a significant number. Although I am not claiming that the number would have helped me win the election, the moment it was postponed, people lost interest and questioned whether the election would ever take place.
The election was also postponed in 2015 due to security concerns. When the governor of Borno State declared that Boko Haram was no longer in control of 90% of the state, why were they discussing delaying the election? It’s not true, in my opinion. But what they’re lying to you is that 90% of Borno is open to rigging, so they can bring in a lot of people from fake places where they say people are voting, but no one lives in those areas.
“Most importantly, it demonstrates that INEC cannot be trusted because, as I have stated far too many times, INEC is an incompetent electoral body.
No matter how you look at it, INEC-organized elections have always encountered difficulties. Sowore stated, “We hear about over-voting, we hear about over-registration, and all those electoral malpractices that they claimed the BVAS had resolved. Even in Osun where they claimed that their BVAS, which is their magic wand, worked.”
He also said that he tried to get the Osun State election results by logging into the INEC website, but the website couldn’t handle the large number of people trying to access it, making it hard to get them in time.
Sowore posed the question, “What are they going to do during the main election when over 50 million people will be attempting to access the website simultaneously at home and abroad?”
They are ill-prepared. He stated, “That’s the truth.”
The organizer of #RevolutionNow stated, “…we have paid for it already and INEC should not come up with any excuse,” and urged Nigerians to demand nothing less than a free and fair election from INEC.
When asked what he would do if he lost the 2023 election like he did in 2019, the AAC standard bearer responded that there wasn’t a 2019 election.
“What was not held, you cannot lose. It is comparable to attending the World Cup. There are rules for playing in the World Cup, and on the day you want to play the final, only one team shows up because the other team is held up in the preparation room. After they announce the winner, will that be considered a final? He stated
I was arrested before I could challenge the 2019 election in court, but I didn’t want to go to court because I also know that the judiciary is in this together.
Sowore went on to say, “It was the judiciary that made a person governor of Imo State who participated in an election and was number four.”
The former president of the University of Lagos’s student union stated that Nigerians anticipated an election rather than a selection and that the government should not be surprised by the outcome if it did not provide Nigerians with what they wanted.
Sowore stated, “What we want is an election, but we cannot force them (INEC) to conduct an election… The election of President Umar Yar’Adua was a selection,” in reference to the election that took place in 2007. Even he, Yar’Adua, made it clear that the election that resulted in his election was not the kind of election that should have produced a leader.
The AAC presidential candidate responded that it was his right and choice to participate in a system he did not support.
“I cannot say because Nigeria is not functioning properly and I have torn my passport. I have decided to keep it. Therefore, I have decided to participate,” he stated.
