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The recent presidential election in Nigeria has been surrounded by controversy, with allegations of vote rigging and the manipulation of the election results. Professor Akinyemi Onigbinde, an expert in public policies, politics, and governance, has added to the debate by stating that the election that produced President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not free and fair.
In an interview with Nigerian Tribune, Professor Onigbinde said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not conduct a credible election and alleged that the BVAS system was deliberately disabled to favour Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). According to Onigbinde, the BVAS system worked for the National Assembly election, which was held on the same day, but was disabled for the presidential election.
Onigbinde also claimed that the general elections in Lagos were tampered with to reduce the votes of the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi. He alleged that the result in Lagos was doctored to reduce Obi's votes, saying, "We have it on good authority that the result in Lagos was terribly doctored to reduce the votes of Peter Obi."
The professor accused the APC of using violence and playing the tribal card to gain the advantage of the Yorubas and divide the electorate. He claimed that the election turned violent, with people beaten out of the queue and even Yoruba people who looked like Igbo people beaten and denied the chance to vote.
Onigbinde further stated that the politicians have captured the judiciary, citing the pronouncements of the Supreme Court on Senators Ahmed Lawan and Godswill Akpabio as examples. People who did not even take part in the primaries of their parties were declared the rightful candidates. The professor also cited Imo State as an example, where whoever has access to the judiciary gets the votes.
The professor decried the monetization of politics and the weaponization of poverty. He accused politicians of using money to buy votes and weaponizing poverty, saying that people now go to queue behind the person who can give them food. He further criticized the lottery-like nature of elections, with nomination forms sold for N100m, which is just a ticket to get into the lottery room. To contest the election, hundreds of billions of naira are required, making it impossible for anyone outside the political class to win.
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