PRESIDENT of Rights Monitoring Group (RMG), Mr Femi Aduwo, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently set up a standing committee comprising representatives of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some local and international election observers to assist the commission in the conduct of the rescheduled elections.
Aduwo, who made the call while speaking with Tribune Online about the postponed elections, explained that such committee would restore public confidence in the electoral body and make the outcome of the elections credible.
“There is nothing bad if a committee of stakeholders comprising representatives of the two major political parties, APC and PDP, and some credible observers to serve as a standing committee to work with INEC to ensure the rescheduled elections are free, fair and credible.
“The postponement did not come to me as a surprise. I have been in the business of monitoring election for decades. I know when INEC is serious and when it is not serious in conducting the election.
“Why can’t INEC move these materials to the designated centres two days to the election? It is very embarrassing. The way out is that INEC should rejig its plan in such a way that people can have confidence in the body. There are a lot of insinuations that what INEC did was deliberate to favour a particular political party.
“Nobody is asking the question about how 4,569 card readers got burnt inside a metal container in Anambra? Were these gadgets deliberately burnt? Was it a ploy to disenfranchise a particular party?
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“If political parties lose trust in INEC, then the credibility of the election and INEC itself will be eroded. INEC must put itself in order. I have a hunch that the rescheduled election will be inconclusive in some strategic states and it will be marred by violence. I am not a prophet of doom, but that is what I see,” he said.
He advised President Muhammadu Buhari to rise to the occasion as the leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to de-escalate tension in Rivers, Kaduna, Kano and other states as presidential and National Assembly elections hold countrywide today.
Aduwo, who gave the advice in an interview with Tribune Online, leads RMG, which is a coalition of 45 civil society organisations which had deployed about 10, 000 election observers across the six geopolitical zones.
He said there were strong indications that today’s election would not be devoid of violence in Rivers.
He said the president ought to have condemned the occupation of the Rivers State by members of the APC over a Supreme Court judgment that ruled against the participation of APC candidates in today’s election.
“If President Buhari who is the leader of the party can’t give instruction to his party members in Rivers and tell them to stop escalating tension in the state, then the peace accord is cosmetic.
“Some observers including those from RMG were told on Friday in Kaduna that “who said we need observers here in Kaduna?”
“Some of us who are working with the United Nations are already taking notes and compiling these incidents. If a single soul is lost due to hate speech, those who made such statements may be arraigned at the International Criminal Court at the Hague, Netherlands.
“If Buhari has lost control of his party, APC, how then can he manage the affairs of the whole country?
“Whatever happens to any foreign election observer, whether those form ECOWAS or the United States or the European Union or even the United Nations, we will hold the APC chieftains responsible.
“APC has given the impression that it does not want to respect the rule of law by respecting the Supreme Court judgments on Rivers and Zamfara states.
“I don’t want to be a prophet of doom, but I know the election will not be violence-free. Many lives will be lost and the election will be inconclusive in some states. Whatever happens, Buhari should be held responsible. If the ICC could arraign Laurent Gbagbo, Ivory Coast president at 70 plus, there is no one above the law. If the law in the country can’t catch him, international law will pay.
The burning of card readers in Anambra should be properly investigated. How could fire burn the smart card readers that were kept in a container made of metal? Somebody must have opened the container, put petrol and set fire on the gadgets.
It is suspect because Anambra state is where the running mate of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is from and he has been having a running battle with the governor of the state, Willie Obiano, who is supporting President Muhammadu Buhari.
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