Foremost activist and Convener of the Civil Society Committee For Anti-Fraud Election Security (CISCAES), comrade Kennedy Iyere, has issued serious warning to officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to desist from any attempts aimed at altering or compromising the results of the presidential poll held on Saturday.
He affirmed that such an insensitive conspiracy will doubtless engender an unprecedented national youth protest whose consequences will be largely catastrophic.
He warned the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu to be careful because of the ongoing youth democratic revolution which indeed has made Nigeria more politically delicate than it was in 2019.
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Comrade Iyere declared that millions of Nigerians youths were dissatisfied and are already angry with INEC’s inability to conduct a smooth and hitch-free 2023 presidential election, bringing about mass disenfranchisement.
He warned Mahmood Yakubu and desperate political cabals not to toy with the sensibility of the millions of angry youths, whose hope for a better future is hanging on the outcome of the election.
He said Nigerian youths will do everything lawful and unlawful to resist any attempts by INEC to rig the election. “To be forewarned is to be forearmed”, Iyere cautioned.
“These youths have alternatively decided to use their ballots as tools for the elimination of bad governance. Hence, they turned out in their large numbers to vote and elect a credible president trusted to be able to create the new Nigeria they desired for themselves.
“But many of them were unable to cast their votes due to the late arrival of INEC officials and the poor performance of the BVAS technology, an ugly development, which was widely perceived as an intentional act by INEC to rig the election. As if that was not enough damage, even the results of those who were able to cast their votes, were not transmitted or uploaded as required.
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“Right now, the angry youths are of the views that there is a sinister plan to tamper with the true results, if INEC dares to make such a fraudulent move, these youths will not hesitate to translate their democratic revolution into a social revolution, this will be too bad for the country”, said Comrade Iyere.
He advised President Buhari to imitate former President Goodluck Jonathan who voluntarily conceded defeat in 2015 to prevent unwanted bloodshed and Nigeria’s predicted split-up.
He also appealed to the International Community, especially the governments of the United States, UK, EU Countries, Canada and Australia, to keep their eyes on INEC and ensure to lend their “voices” against vote-rigging of any form.
Iyere also appealed to Thambo Mbeki and members of the Commonwealth Observation Team, not to be insensitive to the fact that Nigeria is presently more prone to youth explosion than any other time in the country’s history, hence the reason the 2023 presidential election should be credible.