…Says $25,000 (N15m) Presidential Primary Delegate Bribe Can Pay 3 Years Remunerations of a Nigerian University Professor

…Adds That ’Ballot Revolution’ Targeted at Flushing Out ‘Senile-crafts’ and ‘Kakistocrats’ Holding Nigeria to Ransom

…Accuses INEC of Playing Pranks on Voters’ Registration in Igbo and Christian Areas and Forcing Massive Disenfranchisement

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other critical stakeholders in Nigeria’s present electoral process must avoid pushing tens of millions of impoverished, disenchanted, suppressed and frustrated Nigerian youths and eligible voters, irrespective of religious and ethnic divides and gender and social class into moving from ‘ballot revolution’ to ‘street revolution’ in the forthcoming 2023 General Elections particularly during or after the Presidential segment of the all-important Elections. INEC and other critical stakeholders including leading political players and their parties must therefore come clean by doing the needful so as to avoid setting the country ablaze.

Unlike in the past such as in 2011 and 2019 when some leading northern political players hid under radical religion(s) to organize and sponsor post election mayhems targeted majorly at members of the Igbo ethnic nationality and their Trado-Judeo-Christian faith; INEC and other critical stakeholders in the country’s electoral process must inexcusably get it right this time around and in 2023 to avoid the explosion of post election tsunami of unquenchable proportions across the country.

Through the conspiracy of the same INEC, millions of eligible voters of Old Eastern Nigeria and Midwest resident in North-Central States of Plateau, Benue, Niger, FCT, Kogi and Nasarawa; Northeast States of Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Yobe; Northwest States of Kaduna, Sokoto, Kano, Jigawa and Kebbi; and Southwest States of Lagos and Ogun were denied and are still being denied demographic or registration and voting center accessibility for them to be captured as voters and allowed to vote during elections.

During the 2019 Presidential Poll, they were targeted and destructively attacked in Lagos, Plateau, Taraba, Kaduna, Kano and several other parts of the country.

Apart from millions of them disenfranchised during the past voters registration and revalidation exercises, millions of others were also chased away from polling booths in the Feb 2019 Presidential Poll with their properties worth billions of naira destroyed or burned to ashes.

Millions of members of the sedentary Southeast and South-South population have also been disenfranchised by INEC by deliberately denying them to be captured as registered voters with PVCs hiding under ‘technical hitches’ or at the polling units in the Election Day.

These are sharply in contrast with what was obtainable in the North especially its Muslim held areas where most of the eligible voters were not only captured to vote with PVCs but also millions of underage and illegal aliens were registered as voters with PVCs and allowed to vote during elections.

$25,000 (N15m) Presidential Primary Delegate Bribe Can Pay 3 Years Salaries Of A Nigerian Professor

The monthly remuneration (basic salary and allowances) of a Professor of Nigerian University presently stands at N416, 000 or N15m for three years.

Among the reasons for the ongoing protracted university teachers’ industrial action against the Federal Government of Nigeria since early Feb 2022; fourth of its kind since the inception of the present central Government of Nigeria in late May 2015 are non implementation of the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure 11, unpaid earned allowances involving N25, 000 for a professor and N20, 000 for a senior lecturer per annum/per student in matters relating to postgraduate supervision and others are the teaching practice/industrial supervision/field trip allowances and honoria for external/internal examiner (for postgraduate thesis and undergraduate and postgraduate examinations), among others.

The above highlighted unpaid pittances are one of the key reasons why the present central Government of Nigeria allowed the country’s universities to be shut for over four months; thereby exposing students to armed robbery, advance fee fraud and other cyber crimes; kidnapping for ransom, prostitution and other immoral acts; cultism, ritualism and killings as well as other crimes against persons and properties.

Shockingly, while the above social tragedies are on riotous loose on the country and its citizenry, some of those aspiring to be next leaders of Nigeria in 2023; among them are former governors and ministers or present State or Federal public office holders are busy sharing millions of naira per delegate at their parties’ convention to pick their Party’s presidential flag bearer.

This is to the extent that one of them was caught by proxy shamelessly sharing $25,000 or N15m per delegate to bribe the delegates into voting him as a presidential candidate, which is a three years full remunerations of a professor.

‘Ballot Revolution’ Targeted At Flushing Out “Senile-Crats” And “Kakistocrats”

It must be pointed out that the country’s tens of millions of youths and revolutionary voters especially the impoverished, the unemployed, the underemployed and the under-remunerated are individually and collectively tired of the present political arrangement in Nigeria patterned and pioneered by “cabalized Senile-Crats (old political players with expired ideas) and Kakistocrats” (least competent and worst corrupt persons in government) under the midwifery of the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission.

This explains why INEC and others must avoid being the willing tools for the named clique of immoral, nasty and brutish political players riotously attempting to stage another political comeback and mass enslavement.

The Commission must therefore be told and advised in clear terms to toe the path of wisdom and it coherent reasoning and avoid the dangers of plunging the country into ‘Street Revolution’.

This is because Nigeria will fare far better in ‘Ballot Revolution’ than being pushed on the path of ‘Street Revolution’. INEC must therefore provide level grounds for all citizens of voting age in the country to participate unhindered in the forthcoming 2023 electoral process.

This, the Commission must get right starting from the ongoing voters’ registration and revalidation exercise to the Election Day voting proper. No citizen of the country irrespective of tribe or religion must be deprived of this constitutional fundamental human right.

INEC Playing Pranks On Ongoing Voters’ Registration In Igbo And Christian Areas

Checks from various registration centers across the country especially in the Igbo Southeast and South-South as well as Igbo and Christian held areas in the North and Southwest have continued to indicate that the Commission is at it again by playing pranks on the ongoing voters’ registration.

Apart from massive disenfranchisement through shrinking constituency delineation exercise in recent past especially in Igbo and Christian populated areas in the North and the Southwest, acute shortage of registration machines and manpower especially in the named areas have been reported in the ongoing exercise with less than 22 days to go.

INEC has also shut down its website segments for fresh voters’ registration, revalidation and transfer but still advertises them to be open and operational.

Long queues of massive prospective voters involving hundreds of thousands, if not in their millions have dotted most of the registration centers in the Southeast, South-South and Igbo/Christian held areas of the Southwest and the North. Reverse is found to be the contrary in the Muslim held areas of the country where PVCs are issued to their owners including children of underage and illegal aliens by proxies including through Village Heads.

In several places monitored in Onitsha South, Onitsha North, Idemmili North, Ogbaru and Aguata in Anambra State, for instance, a price tag of between N2, 000 and N5, 000 is additionally imposed for getting to be registered.

These are some of the Commission’s undoing in its ongoing electoral midwifery capable of pushing millions of Nigerian youths/revolutionary voters from ‘Ballot Revolution’ to ‘Street Revolution’.

These, INEC must desist from continuing to do and must have them frontally redressed and put to an end to before it is too late.

Signed

For: International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Principal Officers:

Emeka Umeagbalasi (Criminologist)

Board Chair

Chinwe Umeche Esquire

Head, Democracy and Good Governance

Obianuju Joy Igboeli Esquire

Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Chidimma Udegbunam Esquire

Head, Campaign and Publicity

Contacts:

Phone/WhatsApp: +2348174090052

Email: info@intersociety-ng.org

Website: https://intersociety-ng.org

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