Nigeria’s elections have never been truly free or credible — Pat Utomi
By Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has been reminded that nothing will gladden Nigerian citizens more than a free, fair, and credible election in 2027.
A political economist, Professor Pat Utomi, gave the reminder in an exclusive interview with Vanguard in Owerri.
Utomi said, “Elections have generally not been free, fair, or credible in Nigeria. Every election in Nigeria, since 1999, has been largely flawed. I was closely connected to the system to know that much.
“However, the degrees are varied. Some were better than others. When we thought we should be making progress, it became worse.
“The 2023 electoral exercise, for example, was a national disaster! The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, does not have the courage, till today, to upload results on its i-Rev, like what happened in Rivers State.
“That was where one candidate had a clean sweep, probably 90 percent of the votes cast there, and it was completely turned on its head, and you can give examples elsewhere.
“The introduction of violence, voter intimidation, vote buying, and all such other damnable acts have made elections a huge joke in Nigeria. INEC should please save us from these vices.”
Utomi, however, said it was possible that “if we are determined, there are things we can do to stop certain levels of abuse in our electoral process.”
He said, “It depends very much on us to decide whether our 2023 election experience will repeat itself in 2027 or we will chart a new course in our democratic engineering.
“If somebody tells us that having an i-Rev is an offense or impossible, we don’t need any person to tell us that the fellow is determined to rig the next election.
“Such a fellow is pretending and possibly planning to use it as an excuse to create confusion and prevent alternate provision of the actual outcome of the election as captured at the polling stations on polling day.”
Taking a holistic view of the nation, Utomi said, “Anybody who says that Nigeria is working is either in self-deceit, outrightly deluded, or simply dishonest.
“If the country does not pay attention to the character of people who get into positions of public authority, the leadership will not be able to emerge with sensitization of culture, and culture will not drive the country to where it should be.
“This is a big failure, but it is not yet over. I am still optimistic that there will be a turnaround to the economic stimulus and fortune someday in the future for Nigeria.”
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