Electoral Act Won’t Ensure Free and Fair Elections – Party Chieftain

Electoral Act Won’t Ensure Free and Fair Elections – Party Chieftain

Onwusoanya, a senior member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said that there is no assurance that the general elections in Nigeria would be free and fair in the year 2023.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, often known as INEC, has guaranteed the public that the next elections would be legitimate.

Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, many Nigerians have come to think the same thing.

Despite this, Onwusoanya has said that the APC and the major opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, would continue to look for new ways to manipulate election results in their favor in the coming months.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the immediate past Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State have stated that the new Electoral Act is nothing more than a ruse designed to give Nigerians false hope that something is going to change with the country’s electoral process in the near future.

Onwusoanya made this statement at a press conference with reporters on Sunday.

The politician ascribed difficulties with the country’s voting system to hopefuls’ eagerness to bend the rules and gain impunity for their actions, in conjunction with civil workers who work for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to him, “as long as law enforcement and prosecuting agencies remain nonchalant about ensuring that those who run foul of our laws are brought to book and our systems remain vulnerable to hijack by oligarchical cabals, even a law, making the transmission of results spiritual, will not make our election process credible.

“For some of those whose greatest pleasure is in the electronic transmission of results or the so-called BVAS, you can be sure that if any of those stands in the way of our politicians, they will bypass them and have their candidates declared winner, then, you head to court. If you haven’t understood that our courts are cults, then, you might as well be more naive than I thought.”

Onwusoanya maintained that electronic voting is not foolproof, noting that even America and other advanced democracies with all their investments and advancements in technology still have not gotten a perfect electronic voting process.

“Elections over there are still subject to controversies and allegations of manipulation. Most Nigerian politicians will begin to focus their attention on recruiting these hackers to study and find ways of compromising the electronic voting machines and lines of communication,” the APC chieftain said.

Onwusoanya stated further that a few thousand dollars can actually get Nigerian politicians some Chinese or Korean folks who can hack into the system and even run out the country into a big crisis.

According to him, an average Nigerian politician believes that if he can’t win, then, it should be damaged completely. None of those rejoicing over the electronic voting aspect of this electoral Act has bothered to think about a cyber attack.

“Does Nigeria have what it takes to withstand a situation, say, on the eve of our elections or while the voting is going on or collation is ongoing, the entire INEC server is jammed. I will leave you to imagine what will follow such incident?” Onwusoanya asked.

The Ohanaeze chieftain, however, advised Nigerians advice on a free and fair election to have a rethink and be vigilant at their various polling booths during elections.

“I will conclude this unsolicited intervention by further advising my fellow Nigerians; if you are banking on free and fair election merely because a new Electoral Act has been signed, you are wasting your time.

“A new Electoral Act or old Electoral Act, be vigilant at your various polling booths, don’t trust any BVAS or any electronic transmission of results,” he advised.