Following the alleged betrayal of trust by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, during the recently concluded elections, there are indications that the governorship and State Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, March 11, may be marred by apathy.
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Electorates who were outraged by alleged irregularities committed by some INEC officials during the recent presidential and National Assembly elections have vowed never to vote again.
Gistpeople recalls that opposition parties, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Labour Party, LP, claimed that the electoral body was forced to manipulate the results that resulted in the election of Bola Tinubu, the president-elect of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, Mr Tinubu defeated 17 other candidates in the election by receiving 8,794,726 votes, the most of any candidate.
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party received 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party received 6,101,533 votes.
The opposition parties had rejected the election results and sought judicial intervention to overturn Tinubu’s victory.
Part of the complaint was that the electoral body was unable to upload results from polling units and wards prior to collation.
According to the gistpeople, voters who turned out in large numbers in the hope that the new electoral law would improve free and fair elections were disappointed, as alleged over voting, cancellation of original results, and other electoral malpractices marred the poll.
A series of attacks by suspected political thugs occurred in several parts of the country, particularly Lagos, Rivers, Edo, and Kogi States.
Some electorates who spoke with gistpeople on Saturday in Abuja and other parts of the country expressed concern that their votes would not be counted in the governorship election.
Mr Collins Adanu, a human rights activist, believes the governorship election may have more irregularities than the presidential and National Assembly elections.
“For me, there is no need to risk my life to go and cast my ballot when I know very well that my vote won’t count.
“Will they use a different INEC to conduct the governorship elections? Will they not rig it like they did last week? “INEC has betrayed our faith,” Adanu lamented.
Mr Micheal Aondoka, a youth leader in Wadata Ward, Makurdi, the Benue State capital, said the youths are angry about the outcome of the presidential election and have vowed to boycott the next elections.
“I know what it took us to persuade some people here to vote in the presidential election,” he said. It was difficult to persuade them that their votes would be counted.
“Obviously, the election didn’t go as they expected with several allegations of malpractices and even the INEC was not concerned and went ahead to announce results. It may shock you that several people who voted during that election may never vote again, these youths are angry”.
In addition, Adejor Peters, a radio presenter who spoke with newsmen in Abuja on Saturday, lamented how INEC allegedly ignored several complaints arising from last week’s elections.
INEC should have cancelled elections in areas where there had been attacks, but they did not. They proceeded to name whoever they desired. Which of the allegations has the INEC chairman responded to?
“The truth is that they don’t care about us at all. President Buhari was ready to hold free and fair elections in Nigeria, but INEC proved to be an impediment.
“How can we trust INEC again? How can Nigerians be certain that what happened during the presidential election will not happen again? “I’m done with Nigerian elections,” he declared.
