From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
Anglican Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. David Onuoha, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of kidnapping the future and hope for a better Nigeria in its conduct of the 2023 presidential election.
He stated this at the weekend at the Cathedral Church of St . Paul’s, Ezeoke Nsu, Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, saying despite all the promises and assurances of a free, fair and credible poll, INEC sabotaged the exercise.
He said the usual slang of ‘declare me winner and let him go to court’ indicated a major flaw in the country’s electoral jurisprudence.
He urged judicial officers handling petitions arising from the polls to be bold and courageous in the discharge of their duties to save the country from anarchy.
Onuoha, who congratulated Nigerians for exercising their right to choose their leaders in the last general elections, noted how the excercise gulped nearly N400 billion of tax payers money.
He said: “INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, should be declared number one enemy of Nigeria . I recommend a national award of Grand Enemy of the Federal Republic (GEFR) for him. In saner climes, he would have either resigned or arrested and charged for sabotage of Nigerian electoral process. An ample opportunity to get things right and reposition Nigeria for greatness was sacrificed on the altar of greed, deceit, selfishness and impunity. Despite all the promises and assurances, INEC, to the embarrassment, astonishment and bewilderment of all sabotaged the polls.
“I equally commended Nigerians for their maturity in handling the aftermath of the election by rejecting the option of demonstrations and violence and choosing to be civil. Now that the matters are before the courts, we passionately appeal to our judicial officers to endeavour to be fair and just in handling the petitions before them.
“We expect that falsehood will be exposed and truth upheld. It may be necessary at this stage, to find out why politicians would always be too happy to ask the aggrieved to go to court, after perpetrating obvious electoral fraud.
“The usual slang of ‘declare me winner and let him go to court’, indicates a major flaw in our electoral jurisprudence. This is because the court, in most cases, has confirmed those electoral fraud and manipulations, thereby giving a stamp of authority to illegality. We are worried that the high level of impunity witnessed in our society today, especially in electoral matters, portends grave danger to our nation, if not arrested urgently. The civil disobedience that might follow any attempt to stamp judicial authority on the scam, the 2023 presidential election turned out to be, will not be good for anyone. We must always remember that make oppression possible, also make struggle for liberation inevitable. We therefore, call for a review of our laws, with a view to removing any provision that may encourage evil and embolden wrong doers. Judicial officers must be bold and courageous in the discharge of their duties to save this society from anarchy,” he said.