inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, and mixed reactions trailing the outcome,
the interim National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive
Congress, APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, argues, in this
interview, that the exercise remains irredeemably defective.
Excerpts:
The governorship election in Anambra State has come and
gone…
It has not gone.
Okay it is still ongoing but while some are calling for outright
cancellation of the election, INEC has vowed to go ahead
with a supplementary election. What happens if it goes ahead
with the supplementary poll?
There are many options to be explored and such options will
be discussed at the NEC meeting of the party. But what does
INEC mean by supplementary election? The November 16
governorship election in Anambra State is irredeemably
defective. We do not understand what INEC means by
supplementary election. It is defective to the point that it
cannot be redeemed either by a supplementary election or by
election being conducted in isolated wards.
There are two reasons the November 16 election is
irredeemable. One is that the strong holds of the opposition
were denied voting materials. And this is a clear case of not
just disenfranchisement but there was sabotage as admitted by
even the National Chairman of INEC. He said a senior
official of INEC sabotaged the electoral process.
We also have it on good authority that the voter register has
been so tampered with that anybody whose names start with
O or U could not find his names in the register.
With these, you cannot start talking about a supplementary
election. It is like somebody putting a potion of poison in a
bucket of water. Are you now saying that you can save part of
that water? You have to throw the whole thing away. So, I do
not know what they mean by supplementary election. As for
Anambra, it has to be fresh election or nothing and, beyond
that, Nigerians want to know the name of that INEC official,
his position and how he was able to sabotage the election.
Nigerians want to know who he was working for? This matter
must not be swept under the carpet. If it is allowed to be
swept under the carpet, it will lead to an explosion which is
better imagined. We hear from the grapevine that he is
working for a particular state governor and that a lot of money
has been uncovered and traced to his account. He also
indicted a particular state governor.
And you think INEC will mention the official's name?
This is now in the open and people are seriously concerned.
Because what is done is not just sabotage, it is treason and
this could lead to violent reactions on the part of people. Of
course, Nigerians have a right to know and INEC has the
obligation to tell us the name of this man and how far did he
sabotage the election.
If they can do it in Anambra, it can be done in Ekiti, Osun
and everywhere. So. the problem is much more fundamental
than that. Again, it raises the issue of credibility of the register
we have because if one person can so tamper with the register,
to exclude names starting with certain alphabets, all needed to
be done is just come to Osun or Ekiti and remove some
names from the register.
So, this problem is very fundamental, we cannot start talking
about supplementary elections; as a matter of fact, we should
stop talking about Anambra now, we should start talking
about the integrity of the INEC register.
Going by what has happened in Anambra, what do you think
will happen in the elections coming up in Osun and Ekiti?
Even the whole of Nigeria come 2015… If somebody in
INEC can compromise the register, so effectively, that names
starting with certain alphabets do not appear, this is a
dangerous development and we are very worried about the
integrity and safety of the data. Probably, at the end of the
day, we might have to adopt another form of election because
this is a serious matter.
Like what?
Again, when our party meets, we shall decide.
Protests greeted the outcome of the election but an aide to
Governor Peter Obi has come out to say that those who
protested were not from Anambra but from outside the state…
Of what relevance is that? Is the election defective because of
the protests? Or are people protesting as a result of the
defective election? The question to ask is: Why are they
protesting? Let us assume that those who protested are from
Mars or Jupiter, the question to ask is, Was election free and
fair? Did Idemili North and Idemili South receive voting
materials? Did INEC chairman admit or not that a senior
official of his commission actually sabotaged the election?
These are the issues, whether they are from Mars or Jupiter, it
has no consequence.
The PDP has come out to hail the outcome of the exercise but
the PDP candidate has faulted the process, does that give your
party concern?
There is a proverb in Igboland which says it is bad to steal but
don't steal for the owner to notice. This is a situation where
PDP has stolen for the owner to notice. From the statement of
the factional spokesperson for the PDP, Olisa Metuh, it is
clear that the PDP apologists are working for the success of
APGA.
How else would the National Publicity Secretary of a party
describe, in superlative forms, an election, which your
candidate was not allowed to vote?
The conventional thing for any political party is for you to be
in touch with your candidate on the field and get first hand
information on how the election is going.
The candidate said it loud and clear that he was not allowed to
vote, his name was not even on the register and yet, because
they had a prepared agenda which was, as long as APC does
not win, the election is free and fair.
Now, Olisa Metuh, from the records at our disposal, lost his
own ward but, as long as APC does not win, it was okay for
the prince and the PDP. It has shown to the world what
happened. This one has boomeranged.
What signal is this sending as we approach 2015?
Well, three things are clear: the integrity of the INEC register
is suspect from this moment on; the integrity of INEC as a
whole is suspect from this moment on and, again the 2014 and
2015 elections should be watched because there will be huge
potentials for violence.
Would you agitate for the removal of the INEC Chairman or
the restructuring of the commission?
That will be a decision that our party will take.
Via: Vanguard
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