Intimidation and corruption mark by-elections, says ADC

…Says Democracy failing under Tinubu

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed grave concern over the conduct of Saturday’s by-elections held across 13 states and 16 constituencies of the federation.

Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s National Publicity Secretary in a statement after the election, said the exercise has “again exposed how far Nigeria’s electoral process has deteriorated under President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).”

He stated that the elections were “”riddled with widely reported violence, vote buying, manipulation, and other administrative lapses.”

According to him, the ADC did not field candidates for most of the positions contested in the by-election

He however, noted that “with all its flaws and irregularities, this election should not be seen as a measure of the strength or capacity of the Opposition Coalition, but rather as a sad reflection of how far the system has been corrupted against the will of the people.”

” What Nigerians witnessed in yesterday’s by-elections is yet another reminder that under the current administration, democracy itself, just like the economy and our national security, continues to decline under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC.

The ADC Chieftain listed widespread violence, vote buying, exclusion of candidates of opposition parties, INEC’s complicity, as some of the evils that marred the bye- election, adding that it was impossible for the vote of ordinary Nigerians to have counted under such exercise

“In some states, nearly 300 thugs armed with rifles, knives, and cutlasses were arrested on election day. Is this democracy—or banditry disguised as voting?

“In some others, whole polling units were cancelled due to ballot box snatching and the open intimidation of voters. If citizens cannot go to the polls without fear of assault, then the most basic covenant between the state and its people has already broken down.”

He also alleged that in one of the states, ” a vote-buyer was caught with N25.9 million intended to procure and corrupt the will of the people. In another, election officials were themselves implicated in similar inducements. This is no longer isolated malpractice; it is fast becoming the political culture of our electoral process under the APC. ”

Abdullahi lamented that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System ( BVAS) still malfunctioned during the exercise, even after several years of its introduction

“After so many years, the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in some states has once again raised questions about the Commission’s competence, sincerity, and perhaps, complicity. Nigerians deserve elections that commands the implicit confidence of every citizen and respect of the rest of the world. INEC must not be allowed to turn excuses to a code of conduct.

“The bigger picture that we must all remember is that for better or worse, these by-elections represent the clearest indication of a dress rehearsal for 2027. If violence, vote buying, candidate intimidation and exclusion, and collusion between security forces and compromised election officials become the new normal, then Nigerians and the international community must brace themselves.”

The ADC therefore, called on President Bola Tinubu to ” rise above his partisan interest and for once, demonstrate genuine leadership by ensuring that Nigerians can cast their votes freely and safely.

“The President must recognise that no government can claim legitimacy if it consistently presides over elections that citizens and the international community perceive as fraudulent.”