"Credible Election is a very important factor for sound government to deliver growth and stability. We must get it right in Nigeria by ensuring it's transparent- free and fair"- Uche Okeke.
The Osun State governorship election has been declared inconclusive by Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission INEC citing very narrow winner margin and ordered a re-run in some local government areas where there were pockets of irregularities. The re-run set for thursday 27 September 2018 has generated controversies. What's left to ascertain is if the reasons are genuine and if its within the election rules. This is now a matter for the courts to interpret. While we commend the smooth and transparent process which has thrown up surprises, there is quite a number of lessons to be learned as the country prepares for the next general elections in 2019. First the election has proved that everyone matters in a democracy and supports the need for inclusiveness. Secondly it has confirmed global predictions by experts that next year's presidential election in Nigeria will be a tight contest between the ruling APC party and the main opposition PDP. Meanwhile the opposition PDP party whose candidate, Senator Adeleke pulled the highest number of votes in the election has rejected the decision of INEC for a re-run election and asked the electoral umpire to declare their candidate the winner. Information on their Facebook page indicates that the party will be heading to court on Monday 23 September 2018 to compel the Independent Electoral Commission to conclude the election by declaring their candidate the winner having satisfied the election requirements. Nigeria's human right lawyer, and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, (SAN) has described this development as "ludicrous mockery of our electoral process and constitutionalism, subversion of the people's will, a dangerous subversion and travesty of the electoral process, a blow to the country's hard earned constitutional democracy and an ominous sign of the farce to expect in 2019". Writing on his Facebook page, he concluded that what they have just done to Senator Adeleke's votes is to "defeat the will and legitimate franchise of the good people of Osun state-"- (Facebook).
Find out more soon as we analyse, the process, participation, the role of security personnel, transparency, INEC capacity ,good governance, democracy, economic growth , and stability in Nigeria. http://www.theleadprojectfoundation.com/2018/09/tvc-news-nigeria-live.html
Uche Okeke is a Statistician, Social Entrepreneur, the Founder of The LEAD Project Foundation, and the Author of Nigeria's Democracy And Its Crisis Deliberate, Avoidable-'Bribe & Bullet'. What Can Be Done About It.
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