When the 2022 Nigeria’s Electoral Act was proposed and eventually passed into law in 2022, the joy and pageantry that greeted the innovation was such that was never seen or heard of in modern times as far as, Nigeria’s Electoral processes are concerned.
But, little did Nigerians know that their joy was on a shortlived transit. Nigerian’s initial excitement of hoping to experience thoroughly manned, transparent, credible, free and fair electoral processes where the true choice of the people will be elected to represent them rather turned into a frenzy of rage.
The country was yet to fully recover from the widely reported glitch that nearly overshadowed the huge gains of the BVAS innovation in the earlier 2023 Presidential election up until the November 11th, 2023 Kogi State Governorship election when the worst and least expected manipulations cum bypass of the BVAS machines happened in all 5 Kogi Central Senatorial District LGAs without a pinch of remorse and a second thought of the consequences of such, when eventually placed on the scale of Nigeria’s justice system.
Like a ravaging inferno and a brazen show of very skillful act of naked criminality and with the compromise of INEC, the BVAS machines were swept aside, dumped in the gutters and results sheets were prefilled using figures on voter register hours before polling boots opened in Ogorimagongo, Okene, Adavi, Okehi and Ajaokuta LGAs.
In total shock over the sudden U-turn of INEC to uphold the sanctity and sacredness of BVAS having expended over 500 Billion naira of Nigeria’s taxpayers money, dissastisfied with the attitude of Prof. Johnson Urama of University of Nigeria Nnsuka who shamelessly yielded to the sin of financial gratification to allow the open electoral criminality to pass, the SDP candidate, Alhaji Murtala Yakubu aka Muri Ajaka, approached the courts for legal redress. But, little did he know that those who bought their way out from the beginning were already set in wait at the tribunal and its parent body, the court of appeal.
Now, the case of the Kogi State open BVAS bypass is before the Supreme Court for adjudication where it will finally be laid to rest.
But before the Lordships take a leap, it is fundamental to itemize the following few Implications of allowing the fraud of an election in Kogi State (2023) to stand:
1. Political Moneybags will have no need to bother about their competence the moment the precedence is set that allows for prefilling of results.
2. BVAS bypass will officially be established.
3. Future elections will only be about politician’s capacity to hold down their places of strength to completely turn in the entire voter register, write results at will and steal victory.
4. Those with government machinery of power will suppress votes of opposition’s strongholds while they write results of their strongholds to clinch undemocratic victories.
5. It is recipe for anarchy and serious breakdown of law and order as the oppressed will rise to challenge the unpopular government of the electoral thieves in due time and the rage such anger may birth can better not be imagined.
6. The test run for this, using Kogi State BVAS bypass as a case study, will be against President Tinubu or any APC candidate in 2027 elections.
OCHEDI, writes from Abuja, Nigeria.
