Saturday’s by-elections, mockery of democracy, travesty of justice – LP

The Labour Party (LP) has expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of Saturday’s by-elections, describing the exercise as “nothing short of a mockery of democracy, a travesty of justice against the Nigerian people.”

In its review of the polls, the party said rigging, violence, and vote-buying were recorded in the states where the exercise took place.

The LP noted that the development was a “dangerous dress rehearsal of what may befall us in 2027 if citizens do not act swiftly to halt this brigandage.”

In the interim, National Chairman of the party, Senator Nenadi Usman, claimed that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) colluded with agencies assigned to monitor the elections to perpetrate alleged fraudulent practices.

“From Kaduna to Anambra, Ogun to Oyo, and Kano, the narrative remained the same: large-scale rigging, brazen vote-buying, and violence defined the process. Independent accounts confirmed that the ruling APC – often in collusion with security agencies – stood at the very centre of these shameful acts that desecrated our electoral space.

“If INEC cannot conduct minor off-season elections with integrity, one shudders at the thought of how it intends to manage the nationwide polls of 2027,” her spokesman, Mr Ken Asogwa, reacted on her behalf in Abuja on Sunday.

The party criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for allegedly obstructing free and fair voting, recalling how in 2023 the commission looked the other way while opposition political parties were denied fair participation in the elections.

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The LP observed, “True to character, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Professor Mahmoud Yakubu did not disappoint. Two years after the brazen electoral heist that robbed the Labour Party and the Nigerian people of their mandate, we had hoped that the passage of time would inspire Yakubu to at least attempt a semblance of redemption – a pretence at leaving behind a legacy.

“Yesterday’s outing has proven that such expectations were misplaced.

“We therefore call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rise to the occasion and rescue our democracy from imminent collapse.

“The charade witnessed yesterday must not be allowed to define future elections. History will be most unkind to President Tinubu if he permits the hawks around him to push him into further desecrating our democracy in the narrow pursuit of retaining power, even in the face of overwhelming rejection by a weary citizenry already pauperised by the ill-conceived policies of his administration.”

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