At the early hours
of Friday, information came in that the Vice Chancellor of the Federal
University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof Kayode Soremekun, who was the INEC
Returning Officer in the recently concluded Edo State governorship election
that is still a subject of litigation, will also serve as the Returning Officer
for the Ondo State election.
The questions that
came to my mind were; is Prof Kayode Soremekun the only Vice Chancellor in
Nigeria? Is FUOYE the only federal university in Nigeria? Is Ekiti the only
State where INEC can find Returning Officers?
Definitely, INEC is
up to a sinister game on the Ondo State election and it is obvious that the
electoral commission is working with the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This belief was
further made manifest by the response of Prof Soremekun to a SMS and a call,
saying that he was only being used as decoy by INEC.
This was further
corroborated by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo State, Mr
Olusegun Agbaje, who said on television that identities of those to be used as
Returning Officers are being kept secret.
Obviously, it is
clear beyond any doubt that INEC is only trying to make a volte-face, after its
sinister motive of using the same people it used to rig the Edo State election
was exposed.
Electoral process
should an open book that anyone can read. Sadly, less than 24 hours to the Ondo
State election, INEC is telling Nigerians and the entire world that identities
of those to serve as Returning Officers
are being kept secret.
Why should those
that will conduct election be hidden from Nigerians? Is election now a secret
affair?
The sad reality
confronting the electoral process in Nigeria today is that apart from the APC,
other political parties are now contesting elections against INEC.
It is clear that the
Returning Officers already have fake results that they will announce to
Nigerians as they did in Edo State.
Evidently, democracy
in Nigeria has suffered a serious setback and it will take the insistence and
resistance of the people of Ondo State for their votes to count tomorrow.
Furthermore, to
sustain the planned rigging, names of some judges seen as trusted enough to
give the APC favourable judgment have been compiled to be used as members of
the Election Petition Tribunal. In other words, the election tribunal has been
constituted even before the election is held.
I therefore urge the
people of Ondo State to be extremely vigilant.
When they go out
tomorrow to cast their votes, they must stand by their votes. They must follow
their votes from the polling stations to the ward collation centres, local
government collation centres and the State collation centre.
My dear people of
Ondo State, if they tell you to leave the State collation centre at any time
that collation will be suspended as they did in Edo State, resist it. Stay
awake all night on Saturday till final result is announced.
INEC must be
reminded that is has a duty to Nigerians and not APC. The people of Ondo State
must be the one to elect their own governor, not INEC.
Therefore,
tomorrow’s election must be free, fair and credible. Nigerians must remember
there is no alternative to democracy, we must salvage it together.
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