The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, says INEC’s actions have sabotaged the integrity of the election and undermined the credibility of its outcome.
They called for a pause in the further announcement of the results and carrying out a backward review before deciding on the way forward.
NLC disclosed this in a statement on Monday evening, as Nigerians question the legitimacy of the 2023 Presidential elections in a statement titled “ Build Government on Sovereign Will.”
A poor reflection of will: The NLC stated that any election result that does not reflect the wishes of the people will not only spell doom for democracy but will also render the benefiting government of such heist illegitimate, they added:
- “Sustainable governments are built on sovereign will. The reason is that such a government is asking for a coup though not a military one but organized by civilian INEC against the fundamental rights and choices of the people as expressed through the ballot last Saturday.
- “Every government needs legitimacy to govern freely. However this can only be conferred by the will of the people freely given in an election, When that will is circumvented by whatsoever means, the government loses the very foundation that it needs to be anchored to find acceptance thus govern.”
Lacking legitimacy: They added these very basic elements are clearly lacking in what INEC seems to be in a rush to plunge Nigeria into, warning that:
- “The current Presidential result collation, lack legitimacy as it has been questioned critically by major stakeholder with INEC unable to give satisfactory explanations to the issues raised.
- “Since INEC has compromised the sources of the results from the polling Units by mere action of the clear sabotage of the BVAS instrument that hitherto given Nigerian hope for a more free, fair, credible and acceptable election in 2023, there is nothing that will restore this hope and build relief than to go back to the results as captures by the BVAS.
Pause in counting: NLC called for a pause in the further announcement of the results and urged that INEC should carry out a backward review before deciding on the way forward, they added:
- “INEC’s actions have sabotaged the integrity of the election and undermined the credibility of its outcome. It is the process that confers legitimacy on the outcome and anything that contaminates it renders the outcomes inchoate.
- “This is not what the country needs right now especially when we are confronted with military insurgencies, banditry, Kidnappings, and other criminal acts around the nation.
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A former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has raised an alarm of looming danger across the country over the alleged manipulation of the ongoing electoral process.
This is as Obasanjo has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps to address the concerns raised over the alleged discrepancies regarding the results of the general election.
This was made known on Monday by Obasanjo in a letter he personally signed where he appealed to President Buhari to prevail on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, to stop the process and rectify the raised issues.
Obasanjo said that the president cannot afford to ignore the concerns raised over the electoral process, adding that immediate steps — including rescheduling polls in affected areas — need to be taken
