The Delta State governorship candidate of the Young Progressive Congress (YPP), Dr Sunny Ofehe has vowed to take evidences he has gathered from Saturday’s governorship and State Assemblies elections in the State to the International Community for appropriate action against Nigeria.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Dr Ofehe claimed that the election in Delta which he participated wa with financial inducement, ballot paper snatching and all forms of manipulations, lamenting that the exercise was an embarrassment to the most populous black nations of the world.
In what he described as ‘selection’ and not ‘election’, Ofehe said, the international community should be interested in Nigeria’s election more than any country because of the population and the need for Nigeria to set democratic example, but the financial investments by the European Union, EU, United Nations and other foreign nations into the exercise have been a waste, given the fraud he claimed to have witnessed.
On why he would not approach election tribunal as enshrined in the Constitution and Electoral Act as amended, Ofehe who is based in Europe before coming to participate in election expressed his disbelief in Nigerian Court, insisting that he will act differently using international instruments to ensure that the next election in 2027 would not be a ruse.
“We have witnessed yet again a mere selection called an ‘election’ on Saturday, March 18, 2023 for gubernatorial and State House of Assembly members, where huge fraud was sadly perpetrated.
“The good people of Delta State were disenfranchised and denied right to free choice of their political leaders by widespread thuggery, vote buying, concoction of figures at collation centres and the likes.
“Chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, were variously in connivance with the umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which endorsed the charade, caricature and show of shame.
“This sad scenario in the elections has reinforced the tag on the nation as “fantastically corrupt”.
“We have substantial amount of evidence to expose the tremendous fraud that took place across polling units and wards in each of the 25 local government councils in the state.
“The question is why should INEC budget such humongous sum of money only to midwife this sham and jamboree?
“Is it not better for INEC to advertise our elective positions in the media and open a
bidding process for the highest bidders to be announced instead of wasting money of tax-payers who are given false hope that they ‘ll elect their leaders?
“After assurances by the electoral umpire, INEC, gruelling campaigns by various parties and debates all of which raised the consciousness and hopes of the people for a better election, influence of money owing to weaponization of poverty in the land played unfortunate role in the elections.
“Elective positions therefore largely went to the highest bidders. This is not the democracy Nigeria truly wants. This is not the democracy I decided to participate in. Our democracy, indeed, failed to evolve one notch higher! Sad!
“With governance thrown to incapable hands, the economy of our dear Delta State will more likely bleed in the wilderness in the next four years.
“We must not continue like this. We must not continue to sweep under the carpet the fraud that has characterised our elections. “As an environmental, human and political rights activist, I will, everywhere in the globe I chance to, continue to shame these polls that were less than free, less
than credible and hence unfair. It is hoped that this approach has the beneficial effect of deepening our electoral system.”