Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, in an open letter titled; “An Appeal For Caution And Rectification”, released on Monday, February 27, warned against the “looming danger and disaster” in Nigeria if the election results are not rectified.
Another former leader Abdulsalami Abubakar asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to take note of the allegations of misconduct trailing the presidential election.
He urged Nigerians to remain calm while the issues were being sorted out.
In his letter, Obasanjo raised the alarm that danger is lurking around the country over the alleged compromise of the ongoing election process, and appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to cancel “all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test” and reconduct elections in areas affected on Saturday, 4th March, 2023. He also advised the President to involve the “Committee of INEC staff and representatives of the four major political parties with the Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association look into what must be done to have hitch-free elections next Saturday”.
He stressed that though the Chairman of INEC may claim ignorance but he cannot fold his hands and do nothing when he knows that election process has been corrupted and most of the results that are brought outside BVAS and the server are not the true reflection of the will of Nigerians who have made their individual choice.
He said at this stage, that the government should not “wittingly or unwittingly” set the country on fire with the “greed, irresponsibility and unpatriotic act” of those who allegedly gave money to INEC officials for perversion and those who “collected the blood money.”
Meanwhile NPC statement, titled, “A Call for Calm: Please Give Peace and the Process a Chance,” the National Peace Committee also urged the security agencies to cooperate with INEC in their investigations of these weighty allegations.
In the statement, the committee said, “We appeal to INEC to heed the grievances being expressed, to take the necessary steps to escalate investigations of all allegations of infractions and to ensure that justice is clearly done to all citizens who went out to vote.
We have received reports of the culture of voter suppression manifested across the country through the application of targeted violence, disruption of processes, inducement of voters, intimidation, deliberate frustrations of voters and the challenges of the election equipment.”
The NPC also appreciated the efforts of Nigerians who did their part, saying, “We commend Nigerians for turning out en masse to exercise their civic duty by voting in the February 25 elections. We took note of their patience, dignity and enthusiasm, which Nigerians lined up to vote despite observable challenges in the polling units.”
Abdulsalami stated that there were, indeed, genuine cases of concern regarding the manner the presidential election was conducted in several parts of the country. The committee urged INEC to thoroughly investigate the complaints in order to engender the confidence of Nigerians.
Mosunmola Ogi-olu, Ozioma Ugwuezi
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