Nigerians often deploy the pidgin English lingo, “See your life for outside”? as a sharp rebuke to an individual who had misbehaved, fallen far below expectation or had engaged in a despicable, disgraceful and condemnable act. And this is exactly what Nigerians in their numbers have been asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) since Friday, 1 November 2024 when they watched with their mouths agape as human rights lawyer, Martin Obono exposed how the commission subverted the will of the voters in Edo State during last 21 September governorship election. Obono was a guest on Arise News TV prime time segment, Morning Show.
Obono, the Executive Director of TAP Initiative for Citizens Development, revealed highly disturbing and troubling findings from his organisation’s investigation into what has now been generally regarded as the most brazen and audacious electoral heist in Nigeria’s history since the return of democracy in 1999.
And this, quite unfortunately, was allegedly perpetrated by the supposedly ‘independent’ electoral umpire itself, INEC. His narrative detailed a system plagued by irregularities and institutionalized malpractices that robbed the citizens of their right to freely choose who should govern them.
This shocking exposé is a pointer to the fact that time has come for a wholesale overhaul of the country’s electoral framework to safeguard Nigeria’s democratic integrity.
TAP’s findings detailed an unbelievable level of crude and ugly betrayal of trust by compromised INEC staff who allegedly engaged in voter manipulation by printing duplicate result sheets that were used for the apparent outcomes that have now been callously foisted on the good people of Edo State as the official outcome of their civic responsibility on September 21. How sad!
According to Obono, a careful scrutiny of the Edo election results by TAP, showed discrepancies between what was recorded by agents on ground and what INEC ultimately declared. TAP alleged that INEC used fraudulent Certified True Copies (CTCs) of results sheets, which lacked the signatures of polling agents and were surprisingly, widely inconsistent with the Independent Results Viewing (IREV) platform data. These astonishing revelations put a huge question mark on the credibility and integrity of INEC. It also highlights a broader pattern of political and institutional complicity that brazenly undermines the democratic will and choice of Edo people in this particular instance and Nigerians at large.
The question is what are the implications of these findings on Nigeria’s democracy? As Obono warned, if left unchecked, this patently ungodly behaviour could serve as a dangerous template for future elections, and thus further undermine the already fragile trust Nigerians have in their electoral system.
It should be a thing of concern to all well-meaning Nigerians and lovers of democracy that instead of eliminating well known traditional forms of electoral malpractice—ballot box snatching, vote-buying and voter intimidation, a new kind of institutional rigging where the umpire itself does the rigging has now surfaced. And this, unequivocally questions the neutrality of INEC as an unbiased umpire saddled with birthing free, fair and generally credible elections in Nigeria.
INEC’s alleged malpractices reflect a failure of accountability, not only within the commission but also among political parties and even the legal system. TAP’s investigations revealed that party agents, security forces, and even opposition parties appeared complicit or apathetic to the malpractice. This points to a pervasive culture of impunity. As Obono emphasised, if electoral offenders are not prosecuted, the cycle of corruption and rigged elections will persist, robbing Nigerian citizens of the power to choose their leaders.
To demonstrate its preparedness to give vent to this assertion, TAP Initiative, on Tuesday, filed a petition before the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, demanding the prosecution of some officials that were involved in the recent governorship election that held in Edo State.
Specifically, the petitioner called for a thorough investigation and trial of some of the adhoc staff INEC used for the conduct of the election, alleging that they engaged in acts of forgery which it insisted is a criminal offense.
TAP Initiative which submitted the petition at the headquarters of the ICPC in Abuja, said it would not hesitate to seek a fiat from the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, should the anti-corruption agency fail to act on its demand.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the petition was accepted by the ICPC on Tuesday, Mr. Obono, further threatened to petition the European Union and other international agencies to stop sending funds to INEC, saying it appeared the electoral body “has taken over rigging from politicians.”
According to the group, it was worried that INEC allowed its officials to be so terribly compromised during elections and failed to use the seven day window to review what happened.
“It is regrettable that INEC is involved in institutional electoral fraud. INEC ought to be a gate keeper but it is now involved in direct rigging, and changing the will of the people.
“We will take a step further to write the United Kingdom, United States of America, European Union and other foreign donors to stop funding election in Nigeria, since they are being defrauded by the electoral body,” the petitioner stated.
The group, therefore, demanded that all those involved in subverting the will of the electorates must be brought to justice, saying it was not satisfied with the apology that was recently tendered by INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmud Yakubu.
“We are aware of the apology that was recently tendered by INEC Chairman, but apology does not erase criminality committed against the people,” Obono added.
And with that, let’s ask again, “INEC, you see your life for outside?”
Eferakeya, a socio-political and public affairs analyst, writes from Benin City, the Edo State capital
