Nigeria 2023 general election; the worst of them all

I have been looking for the right word that will fully capture and express how I feel since yesterday morning when Mr Ahmed Bola Tinubu was announced as the president-elect of the federal republic of Nigeria by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

I’m yet to find the right word that fully captured how disappointed I am. The right word for my current mood and state of mind is yet to find its way into the English Lingo. 

If I say feel terrible, I feel devastated and I’m transfixed they are all understatements of how I truly feel. I’m so sure as I am of my name that millions of Nigerians feel the same way too.

The presidential election held on the 25th of February which spilt over to the 26th of February 2023 is the worst election that ever took place in Nigeria. No other election, not even the infamous 12th June 1993 election come close to this shambolic display of failure and embarrassment that was put up by INEC on the 25/26 of February 2023. The current INEC chairman has written his name in the sand of time for conducting the worst but the most expensive failure of an election in Nigeria. Future generations will learn about him in history and social studies classes.

They were paid 3.5 billion Naira, they used four years to prepare, and they had only one job; conduct a free, fair and credible election, but they failed woefully to successfully execute that.

The indications of riggings were so visible to the blind and audible to the deaf. Some party agents have even confessed that they doctored the results, and some confessed that they were forced at gun points to doctor the results. For instance, the results that were churned out of Rivers state were unbelievable to everybody. We expected there to be rigging but not on this astronomical scale.

My grievances are clearly not about the winner or the defeated; in every contest, there must be a winner and the defeated but let the process be free, fair and credible and everyone will go home happy. What is making my belle spin is the so-called democratic process that produced the winner. International observers could not believe their eyes, and international media were dumbfounded over what took place; although they expected it, they expected electoral malpractice judging from Nigeria/Africa’s track record but they never believed that it will be on this full scale.

The APC party expected the election to be rigged in their Favour in Rivers state but they didn’t believe their eyes the level of the rigging that took place. It surpassed their imagination; I can imagine Tinubu screaming; “Ah, Wike, this too much”. This is the gravity of what took place.

Now the ball is in the court of the court and the election tribunal to remedy this despicable wrong and save the nation from this national disaster and embarrassment. The court should nullify the last weekend’s election in totality and ask INEC to conduct a fresh election, that is the only way forward but if the court wants to be lenient or take into consideration the cost and expenses that will be involved in conducting a fresh general election then the court can nullify the election of those polling units, stations or even state where there are clear cases of electoral malpractice; on that instance, the whole of Rivers state election should be nullified.

I know many people have lost hope in the judicial system, but my hope is unwavering in them; maybe I’m just being sentimental because I’m part of the judiciary as a legal practitioner. This is no time for the judiciary to apply technicalities of the law; this is a straightforward case; the election was rigged, and there were evidences alluding to the fact that the election was rigged, therefore the court should either nullify it or adopt the proper results of the election.

The whole world is watching and we Nigerians are watching with one single prayer point; “God abeg”.