2015 Elections, One Of The Most Rigged In Nigeria

A Legal Practitioner and observer during the 2015
elections, Ikechukwu Ikeji, says the just
concluded election was one of the most rigged
elections he had ever witnessed in Nigeria, despite
being considered free and fair.
Speaking on a breakfast show, Sunrise Daily on
Channels Television on Monday, Mr Ikeji accused
INEC officials of being compromised, stressing
further that the politicians themselves were out to
rig and those who won simply outwitted those
who lost.
“Just about every politicians I came across was in
the game of rigging. Nothing can be farther from
the truth than that these elections were fair and
free.
“In fact I have to be honest, this is one of the
most rigged elections I have witnessed. I was in
the field and I can tell you that electoral offences
were rampant,” Mr Ikeji said.
On card readers, the election observer expressed
dissatisfaction. He said that the card readers did
not work in many areas he went to.
He said that they (the electorate) had agreed not
to use the card readers, revealing that he clearly
saw people coming back to vote twice while
some voted three times in both national and state
elections.
He added also that some polling units were
dominated by some political parties, as they were
able to buy the minds of voters and the electoral
officials.
Mr Ikeji also said that all materials for the election
should have been present at the commencement
of the voting, including the result sheets, which
various political party agents should verify.
He also indicted some election observers saying
many of them were compromised and carried
out their duties with bias.
He reacted to the statement by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it had
commenced the compilation of all electoral
offences recorded in the 2015 general elections
with a view to prosecuting those found wanting.
The legal practitioner said that it was a good
statement by INEC that they would prosecute
electoral offenders, but noted that the solution
does not just lie in advocacy, pronouncement or
trying to put technology in place to obviate the
need for politicians to rig.
He advised that the attraction in elective and
political public positions be reduced to discourage
politicians wanting to get to position by all means.