A human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has said the presidential election held on Saturday was marred with suppression and intimidation of voters which made the results unacceptable to many Nigerians.
The legal practitioner alleged that there was also manipulation of election results by politicians and logistics problems on the part of the electoral umpire, amongst many others.
Adegboruwa made these known in a statement on Thursday asserting there were also observable cases of threat to voters, physical injury and even death in some cases.
The statement partly read, “On Wednesday, March 1, 2023, INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) concluded the collation of results of the 2023 presidential election.
“There have been allegations and reported cases of suppression, intimidation and harassment of voters, corruption of the electoral process, manipulation of election results by politicians and logistics problems on the part of the electoral umpire, amongst many others.
“To guarantee the autonomy of INEC, the Constitution makes it independent. For this particular election, funding was provided ahead of time to enable INEC to create a free, fair and credible process.
“As law-abiding citizens, we have thus waited for INEC to conclude the process of the presidential election, to provide the basis for all aggrieved participants and stakeholders to engage the due process of law to ventilate their grievances.
“It is worrisome that our electoral process has not gained any advantage from the robust efforts of well-meaning Nigerians, leading to the enactment of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“The desire for peace and progress in any land can only be achieved through the pursuit of truth and justice. In the same vein, all aggrieved persons must embrace the legitimate avenues created by law to achieve lawful remedies.
Oreoluwa is an accountant and a brand writer with a flair for journalism.
