By Ben Kerrigan-
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command has arrested a number of suspects in connection with the manipulation of the Bimodial Voters Accreditation System (BVAS).
Arise News reported on Tuesday evening that the suspects were arrested in an area suspected to be the operational centre of the syndicate on the Ganges Street, Maitama District, FCT Abuja.
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The report also indicated that the has been taken into custody by the Nigerian police, who are currently investigating the illegal possession and suspected manipulation of the BVAS.
It also reported that one of those being arrested is the Vice President of a company known as Emperor Technology.
The arrested suspects are now said to be helping the police with their investigations, the report further indicated.
The news comes as Bola Tinubu of The APC maintains what now appears to be an unassailable lead against the other two parties, having picked up 39 % of the votes, with three quarters of all state results declared.
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Allegations of corruption throughout the electoral process is bound to make these elections one of the most disputed, potentially forcing it into the litigation arena.
Distasteful evidence of ballot snatching in various parts of the country already made for a compromise of sorts, but arguably leaves the remaining votes on a level playing field in the very corrupt country of Nigeria. Critics of the 2023 electoral process insist the legitimacy of the process has been wide across the board, though strong evidence is yet to be provided to support the claims.
The All Progressives Congress and its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Tuesday, commenced a legal battle to prevent moves by opposition parties to halt the ongoing collation of Saturday’s presidential election results.
The candidate and his party filed a suit to restrain the Labour Party and the People’s Democratic Party preventing the continuous announcement and collation of results of the poll.
The suit was marked FHC/KN/CS/43/2023 and filed before the Federal High Court in Kano.
The Action Alliance and the Independent National Electoral Commission were joined as defendants while the APC vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, was also listed as a plaintiff.
According to Daily Trust, the plaintiffs in a motion on notice filed alongside the originating summons asked the court to make the order restraining the defendants from stopping the collation and announcement of the results.
They argued that “damages will not adequately compensate for the injury that may be occasioned on the Plaintiffs if by the Defendants stop the collation of the result.”
The PDP, Labour Party, and the African Democratic Congress have asked the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to step aside and demanded the conduct of fresh elections.
“We are therefore constrained by this development to state that INEC compromised the integrity of this election even before collation commenced at the polling units.
“A failure to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the guidelines makes it imperative that all results recently uploaded on the IReV portal must be updated before they are announced.
“INEC went back on that promise…This election is not free and far from being fair and transparent. We shall not be part of the electoral process currently going on at the National Collation Centre and we demand that this sham of an election be immediately cancelled.
“We also call for a fresh election to be carried out in accordance to the laid down INEC procedure. We, therefore, call on Yakubu to step aside from his role,” the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, who delivered the position of the three opposition parties, said.
Earlier in the day, Sahara Reporters revealed that a group and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, said it learnt that anti-democratic elements allegedly committed electoral offences during Saturday elections, including money laundering, financial inducement of voters, snatching of BVAS machines, destruction of ballot papers, manipulation of election results, and violent attack on voters by thugs.
The group under the umbrella of Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), has demanded the arrest and prosecution of all electoral offenders in the 2023 general elections held on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
The group led by the human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, said it learnt that anti-democratic elements allegedly committed electoral offences during Saturday elections, including money laundering, financial inducement of voters, snatching of BVAS machines, destruction of ballot papers, manipulation of election results, and violent attack on voters by thugs.
Others include ballot box snatching, forgery of election results, improper use of voter cards, impersonation, underage voting, dereliction of duty by electoral officers or polling agents of political parties, bribery and conspiracy and violation of the requirement for secrecy in voting, amongst others.
ASCAB in a statement signed by its Chairman, Femi Falana (SAN) said, “In order to deal with electoral offences committed during elections in Nigeria, the Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Panel had recommended the setting up of the Electoral Offences Commission. The recommendation was ignored by the political class.
“But due to pressure mounted on the National Assembly by progressive civil society groups, the Senate passed the Electoral Offences Commission Bill in July 2021. Up till now, the members of the House of Representatives, the Bill have refused to pass the Bill for undisclosed reasons.”
The group noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is empowered by section 145 of the Electoral Act, 2022 to prosecute electoral offenders but the commission has said that it cannot combine the conduct of elections with the trial of electoral offenders.
“Happily, the Nigerian Bar Association has announced that its members are prepared to embark on the prosecution of electoral offenders in all the states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. The leadership of the INEC should give fiat to the Nigerian Bar Association for the immediate prosecution of all suspected electoral offenders.
“We have confirmed that the operatives of the anti-graft bodies, police and other security agencies arrested scores of alleged electoral offenders before and during the February 25, 2023 general elections.”
ASCAB said the investigation of the offences should be speedily concluded and that the case files should be immediately forwarded to the secretariat of the Nigerian Bar Association in Abuja.
It added, “As there is no statute of limitation for electoral offences, some of the suspects who cannot be arrested or prosecuted for now by virtue of section 308 of the Constitution should face the wrath of the law at the end of their term of office.
“Such public officers who abused their office should be treated like President Donald Trump who is liable to be charged with the disruption of the November 2020 presidential election held in the United States.”
According to ASCAB, it is sad to note that many voters and electoral officers, including youth corps members who refused to be compromised during the elections, were brutalised on alleged orders of an undisclosed governor.
It continued, “In another state, a governor engaged a contractor to dig holes and destroy a road to discourage voters from voting for a particular candidate. The National Human Rights Commission should investigate the complaints of all victims of electoral violence with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.
“However, it has been reported that certain thugs have threatened to attack people for voting for candidates of their choice. Our organisation is in touch with the police and other security agencies to prevent attacks on citizens for performing their civic duties. The Police and other security agencies should ensure that the Governorship and legislative elections scheduled to hold on February 11, 2023 are not hijacked or disrupted by thugs and other criminal gangs.
“Meanwhile, to diffuse tension in the country, INEC should uphold the results of the presidential election in the INEC portal in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC Guidelines. At the same (time), members of the political class should desist from inciting the Nigerian people to violence.”
“Let all aggrieved parties and individuals pursue their genuine grievances under the Electoral Act by filing petitions before the Election Petition tribunals and the Court of Appeal not later than 21 days after the declaration of results of elections,” the group said.
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