He said the presidential election of February 25, 2023, cannot be portrayed as a worthy legacy for Nigeria.
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, a human rights lawyer, has slammed the conduct of the 2023 election.
He said the presidential election of February 25, 2023, cannot be portrayed as a worthy legacy for Nigeria.
Adegboruwa said there have been allegations and reported cases of suppression, intimidation and harassment of voters, corruption of the electoral process, manipulation of election results by politicians and logistics problems on the part of the electoral umpire, amongst many others.
The activist in a statement signed on Thursday asserted that observable cases of threat to voters, physical injury and even death in some cases, all indicate some form of a deliberate design to compromise the electoral process of the last presidential election.
He, however, described it as totally unacceptable.
The statement reads in part; “On Wednesday, March 1, 2023, INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) concluded the collation of results of the 2023 presidential election. There have been allegations and reported cases of suppression, intimidation and harassment of voters, corruption of the electoral process, manipulation of election results by politicians and logistics problems on the part of the electoral umpire, amongst many others.
“All over the world, democracy is always a game of numbers and of choice, the absence of which creates legitimacy questions. Under and by virtue of section 14 (2) (a) of the 1999 Constitution:
“’SOVEREIGNTY belongs to the PEOPLE OF NIGERIA from whom GOVERNMENT through this Constitution DERIVES all its POWERS AND AUTHORITY.’ (emphasis supplied).
“Thus, the legitimacy of any government belongs to the people of Nigeria through their free mandate as expressed with their votes. To this end, no legitimacy can spring forth from any process that is devoid of transparency and accountability.
“Observable cases of threat to voters, physical injury and even death in some cases, all indicate some form of deliberate design to compromise the electoral process of the last presidential election. This is totally unacceptable.
