HOW INEC CAN STILL REDEEM ITSELF AND RESCUE A POTENTIAL DESCENT INTO ANARCHY

by ONWUASOANYA FCC JONES

Nigerians trooped out en masse to cast their votes in this election with very high hopes that the election will be a big improvement from what obtained in the past, but with reports coming in from across the country, it is becoming obvious that if nothing urgent is done to redeem INEC’s image and salvage the integrity of the electoral process, Nigerians will not only be disappointed but might have been pushed to a point where they may not have any other options but to take laws into their own hands. God forbids.

From Lagos to Rivers, Imo and across various States in the country, reports are rife of efforts to subvert the will of the people through methods, one would have considered anachronistic, just few days ago, following INEC’s assurances of massive deployment of foolproof technologies to avert vote padding, ballot box snatching and other forms of electoral malpractices. INEC would be confirming its complicity in this massive fraud and affront on the sensibilities of Nigerians, if it does not take immediate actions to ensure that those who perpetrated this fraud do not benefit from it.

Some of the immediate actions that INEC can take to restore confidence in the electoral process and potentially save Nigeria from a descent into total anarchy are as follows;

1. INEC should collate only results generated through transparent methods and uploaded to the INEC server, not later than 6am this morning.

2. INEC should cancel elections in all areas where there are credible evidence of manipulation, fraud and violence.

3. INEC should announce results from the few areas where credible elections were held and suspend declaration of a final winner of the presidential election until the election is concluded.

4. Massive deployment of security operatives should be made to the areas where election results were tampered with, to conduct fresh elections that should be largely devoid of rigging and harassment of voters. Some of the areas where INEC needs to conduct fresh elections include; Imo, Lagos, Rivers, Kogi State, etc.

5. INEC should not accept results from areas where BVAS was not used for accreditation, if it is true that most parts of core Northern States didn’t use BVAS, then, rerun elections should be scheduled, probably, alongside the upcoming governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

INEC should understand that they are not merely conducting a usual general election but are conducting a referendum on the stability or otherwise of the nation, and they must take this responsibility seriously.