Wonders they say never end in this our country. What will the courts declaring the April 2007 charade as fair say of Mike Tyson voting in Nigeria? What is very obvious about what happened last year is that we have been living a national lie..inflating figures and messing ourselves up.
I have told my friends campaigning for credible elections that it is necessary to first of all we have cancel the present voters register. In my estimation over between 50-60 percent of names on the list are ghost voters!!!!!!!!!!! , the Mike Tysons who emerge to vote in the dark in Nigeria. Therefore even if all the genuine voters vote for you , you are likely to lose the elections.
Now even if the 1.3 geneuine voters voted for Adams Oshiomhole he would not have won the elecetions.
I reported elections for several years and I have observed elections for a few years..and I do know that after genuine voters have finished, and left the scene the real elections ala Nigeria begins. Party agents buy and are bought off. Money is exchanged and victors and winners emerge.
Those new to the Nigerian process always pay a high price.
I remember the 1999 elections. In Jos after the elections several people went home rejoicing that their candidate Chief Olu Falae had won. At the those polling units Falae had scored more votes. After the voters left, party agents and INEC officials played games with the votes that had not been cast..unfortunately, these were more votes..and PDP had the day..
Electoral reforms, if they would be meaningful, must start with the voters list..which is today, not reliable
Just read the story below and you will get what I mean .It is culled from the SUN Newspapers
Going by the records of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ondo State, even the former World Heavyweight champion, €˜Iron€„¢ Mike Tyson came to Nigeria, rushed to Ondo State and voted for a candidate of his choice.
Curiously, the voters€„¢ list at polling unit Motor Park 111, Ajegunle, Akure North revealed this while the voter whose face became that of Tyson€„¢s is Kehinde Oluwasola, male, aged 62.
His occupation was listed as farming and fishing.
Going by the record presented in the open Election Petition Tribunal headed by Justice Garba Nabaruma, the passport of the pugilist, Tyson is conspicuously displayed.
The Labour Party (LP) candidate in the state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko is currently at the tribunal, contesting the victory of Governor Olusegun Agagu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the April 14, 2007 governorship polls.
Foreign forensic experts invited by the LP revealed the scandalous mix-up. Tyson is not even a Nigerian. Observers are now wondering and doubting the thoroughness of INEC in the entire affair.
And this is not all. Nigeria€„¢s Vice-President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, also voted there with the name, Bola Ogunbuyide, aged 47 with occupation quoted as civil and public servant. His INEC serial number was 276/30301601907. The PDP chairman, Senator Ahmadu Ali, going by the same record, also voted there. His name was given as Samuel Idowu, aged 40 and alleged to be a civil servant.
If you are not shocked yet, this one will knock you out: The governor of Anambra State, Dr Peter Obi, by the same document made available to Sunday Sun, voted as Ojo Akintunde.
The photograph of the governor, who seems to be smiling, is displayed with that of others.
The greatest shocker is the passport photograph of the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Idris Kutigi, who was presented in the document tendered in the tribunal as Michael Kolawole, aged 69. His INEC voter€„¢s number was 323/30301601780.
The governor of the Central Bank, Prof. Charles Soludo voted as Akinola Olanipekun, aged 42 and listed as a civil and public servant.
The Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecelia Ibru, also voted allegedly as Sade Osabehi. A former presidential candidate, Mrs. Sarah Jubril, made the list and allegedly voted as Funke Asabiha. aged 38. The document stated she voted as a civil and public servant.
Journalists are not spared in the scandalous smear. A former columnist of Sunday Sun and now chairman, Editorial Board of The Nation newspaper, Sam Omatseye, also made the list as Ayoola Abomoleran. His age was put as 40 and occupation as Farming and Fishing.
Others who also voted in the doctored document include Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, the factional leader of Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State and Omatseye€„¢s colleague in The Nation, Prof. Segun Gbadegesin.
Going by the INEC document presented as evidence and certified by the forensic experts in the tribunal, hundreds of minors were listed, numbered and photographed as adult voters.
Commenting on the development, Assistant Publicity Secretary of the LP in the state, Pastor Ranti Akerele said, €œthis has vindicated us, we thank God who has exposed this hidden thing.€
Akerele averred that apart from the photograph scandal, inanimate objects also €˜voted€„¢ in the governorship polls.
But in a swift reaction, Press Secretary to Governor Agagu, Donald Ojogo, said the issue of those who appeared in the registers used for the election is for INEC to answer, because neither the PDP nor Agagu is responsible for the registration of voters.
He however said that the governor is not jittery over the development. €œIt is the handiwork of desperate politicians to achieve their wicked goals. Don€„¢t forget that it is the documents given to Adrian Forty that he worked on. Who says they could not have been tampered with?€ He asked rhetorically.
Asked to react to the scandal, INEC Commissioner for Information and Publicity, Phillip Umeadi, said he could not comment immediately because he was in a meeting and that the Sunday Sun correspondent should call him back at night.
All subsequent efforts made to reach him via his cellphone proved abortive as the calls were not picked.
By JOSSY IDAM, AUGUSTINE AVWODE & KAYODE FASUA
Sunday, March 9, 2008
SUN Newspapers