By ‘Tonye Timi
NIGERIA has just concluded the 2023 elections. Suffice it to say that the nation is in shock as the thinking was that the introduction of technology would cure some of the weaknesses in our electoral system. However, the unfortunate experience was that some politicians still found a way to abuse the newly introduced technology, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to achieve their aims.
There was no place this was so blatantly and rudely in display than Delta where, out of desperation, caution was thrown to the winds. There were instances of shameless harassment, bribery and intimidation of the electorate to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with all known state machinery deployed.
When Emmanuel Uduaghan’s election as governor of Delta State was annulled in 2010 and a rerun ordered by the court, it came as an unexpected and disruptive shock which deeply upset the PDP applecart in the state at the time. The ensuing rerun was the closest that Great Ogboru got to winning the governorship election in Delta State, aided by a prominent person, PDP elders and stakeholders’ forum.
The revealed electoral infractions that justified the annulment of that 2007 election was not a tenth as villainous and widespread as the misanthropic and chaotic governorship election conducted in Delta State on 18th of March 2023.
The Delta State governorship and House of Assembly elections was a massive heist, planned and executed across the state with the organised precision and skills that can only be achieved by a well-rehearsed gang.
BVAS accreditation machines did not record half as many voters as finally recorded in the result sheets. This is true across the 25 Local Government Areas of the state. Accredited voting records do not have any resemblance with the high volume of votes recorded across Delta state. In some places, recorded votes were twice or three times the number of accredited voters. In many areas across the state, two or three booklets of ballot papers were removed from the required supplies to polling units and then thumb printed elsewhere and later stuffed into the ballot boxes to be counted along with the valid votes.
So, the judges in the Delta election petition tribunal must be made to insist on taking due cognisance of the difference between accredited voters and the number of votes counted to achieve the figures that led to the declaration of a winner. If this is done as is required, the election of the PDP candidate cannot stand. So, let no one be pumping chests yet. The Delta election was gerrymandered with a scoffing contempt for the will of the people and a clear confidence that the tribunal judges will be bought over to validate the larceny.
Jurisprudence is replete with instances where technology is used to burst well planned and executed crime. So, it will be with the Delta State governorship and House of Assembly elections. The governorship election in the state was a well-planned and coordinated crime implemented statewide and the outcome of that must not be allowed to stand.
Fingerprint experts will reveal the sameness of the thumbprints on the ballot papers and BVAS will have record of total accreditations in each polling unit. So let’s get started. A governor must never again be allowed to emerge from a criminal operation.
The 2022 Electoral Law prescribes clearly what happens to votes in units and areas where over-voting is recorded. The tribunal judges will neither change or ignore facts now embedded in the BVAS. So, it is a fait accompli that the governorship and House of Assembly elections of 18th March in Delta State cannot stand, not with the evident breaches observed on the election day and the expected deployment of technology to re-evaluate the process and the records.
In the entire Delta North senatorial district for instance, it was open same-same for rigging with impunity. There was a total and deliberate absence of security; so PDP was let free to be wanton and unrestrained. Rigging with impunity was widespread and unchecked.
Bags of rice were alleged to have been moved accompanied with sacks of currency to Ika South district a night before the elections. There was brazen distribution of money for the purchase of votes at election venues unchallenged. So, many people in the state now believe that the governor has achieved mastery at throwing state money at problems and that he would just throw money at the tribunal judges and the case will be won. We will wait to see that happen.
The 2023 governorship election in Delta State revealed the fact that some of the candidates were mere stooges put in the contest by the governor and funded by the PDP Chief among these was the perennial candidate of Delta governorship elections, Great Ogboru. For two long decades, he’s been running to be governor of Delta State and getting nowhere, diminishing in votes and stature at every election and beaten black and blue by every opponent.
If the 2007 election can be annulled with its far fewer electoral breaches, the monstrous breaches in the 2023 governorship election in Delta State will submit itself to the same fate. Technology has taken care of that.
The 2023 Delta state election will be exposed to the light of technology and verification and exposed for what really transpired. The gubernatorial election is a heist. It won’t stand. It is our appeal to our supporters and the general public to remain calm. The good news is that even those who claim to have “won” an election are more in the mood of mourning than celebration.
- Dr Timi is the deputy director, Media & Publicity Committee, Delta APC Campaign Organisation.
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