By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
The immediate past Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom state, Barrister Mike Igini has asked the Commission to invoke Section 46 of Electoral Act 2022 which stipulates that any political office holders who failed to resign their positions three months to the general election be disqualified to serve as political party agents in the 2023 elections.
Thisis even as he said that the news of postponement of 2023 general election making the rounds is not true and he has also advised the 18 registered political parties to rather set up their Situation Rooms to monitor the elections because the electoral umpire looks set to conduct a free, fair and credible elections in the months ahead.
Igini who was a guest on Channels Television breakfast programme Sunrise Daily monitored in Abuja on Wednesday spoke against the backdrop of the growing concerns over possible postponement of 2023 elections. He insists the postponement of elections story is not true.
According to him INEC has no excuse not to conduct the 2023 general election, arguing that the Commission has over a period of time conducted 105 elections across the country during the off season and has not seen any threats that will stop the 2023 general election.
Said he: “I want to believe that the National Electoral Commissioner who made the comment on the postponement was quoted out of content. I think what the media should have done was to put a call across to the INEC Chairman or Barrister Festus Okoye who is the regular face we see in the media to clarify the comment. But I know that INEC did not say elections will not go on as planned.
“INEC has conducted without hitches 105 elections across the country during the off season period including the Anambra state governorship election which many people thought will be impossible based on the level of pre-election security threats. If INEC has conducted guber election in Anambra last year then general election will go on in 2023.
“In fact, we should be talking about INEC’s elections implementation strategies. This is what should be in the front burner instead of talking about postponement of elections”.
The outspoken former REC said Nigerians including the media should be focusing on how to assist the Commission to deliver a free, fair and credible elections this year and not dwell on the theory of elections postponement.
“I am no longer in INEC but as an advocate of good governance but I am aware that INEC is ready to conduct a free, fair credible and inclusive elections. It is in the news today (Wednesday) that INEC is meeting with critical stakeholders; political parties to present them the new voters register.
“Nigerians should rather worry over the recruitment of ad hoc staff, collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and other things than talking about postponement of elections”, Igini posited.
He has also allays fears expressed by some Nigerians that some unpatriotic politicians will compromise the 2023 general election by using several manipulative ways like buying over INEC staff especially the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) unit by pre-loading the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and iREV.
According to him: “INEC has Election Management Support Center (EMS) domiciled in the headquarters to monitor what goes on across the offices nationwide and hence it will be impossible to compromise the elections.
“There is nothing like pre-loading the machines anymore. This used to happen before now when the Card Reader machine was in use but with the new Electoral Act 2022, the use of new technology BVAS has eliminated all that fraudulent practices. Section 65 of Electoral Act has made it impossible for Electoral Officers (EO) to declare fraudulent election results.
“I can say it is in the public domain that RAC Technicians who are people at the Ward Collection Centers are being bribed by corrupt politicians but the good news is that they can’t change results anymore because results will have to tally with results from the polling units. So EOs can’t influence anything anymore “.
Igini however accused ICT experts of extorting money from corrupt politicians by telling them that BVAS will be pre-loaded on election days but insists that BVAS will not be pre-loaded because the total number of accredited people who turned up the election will count and not the number of registered voters in the voter’s register.
On the vexed issues of underage voting, he said Section 53 of the repealed Electoral Act which allowed total number of registered voters allowed underage and ghosts to vote but Section 65 of new Electoral Act 2022 has made nonsense of underage voters, adding that the use of the Role of BVAS and iREV will be critical in 2023 general election.
Also, Igini has called on the Director General (DG) of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to ensure that the agency certify the list of Corps members while keeping a nominal roll of Corps members who will be involved in the the election duties to curb infiltration by corrupt politicians who he accused of use of Batch No. of NYSC members in the past to rig elections.
He called on the 18 presidential candidates to quickly set up their Situation Rooms to monitor the elections without further delay, pointing out that the elections are just weeks away.
Meanwhile, the former REC of Akwa Ibom state has asked INEC to invoke Section 46 of Electoral Act 2022 which states that the President, Vice President, Ministers, Governors, Deputy Governors, Commissioners, and Local Government Chairmen and Councillors as well as political appointees who failed to resign their appointments three months to general election will not be allowed to stand as political party agents.
Said he: “INEC must ensure that Section 46 of Electoral Act 2022 is followed religiously. The three months required by the law must be implemented so political appointees and other public officers who failed to resign will not be party agents “.
On the on-going collection of PVCs, he said: “I have never been so optimistic that INEC will deliver a credible elections with what I am seeing. Never have Nigerians been enthusiastic to vote for their preferred candidates in 2023 General Elections hence everything should be done to encourage INEC to deliver on its mandate “
He therefore urged Nigerians to insist on collecting their PVCs and also to troop out enmass on election days to vote for their preferred candidates.
On what happens if BVAS fails to work on election days, he said INEC has developed tools to deliver a credible elections, adding that there are five ways to vote but if all fail then VIN, Que Code, will be used to authenticate voters, pointing out that the system in place now has quantum credibility to deliver a free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
