Just Before Professor Mahmood Rigs for the Powers That Be By Elias Ozikpu

Judgement day is fast approaching and injustice is already being unleashed on Nigerians with ferocious aggression, yet those who are desirous to see a great Nigeria in 2019 look on with sealed lips, as though they have been totally overwhelmed by the spate of irregularities from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a supposedly ‘independent’ body with the statutory obligation to conduct free and fair elections and announce results of same in Nigeria.

The crumbled administration of President Buhari, which now points at the distance the President walks as a justification for his re-election in 2019, is aware of the collective resolve of Nigerians to ensure that the Daura man re-unites with his people at the rise of the New Year. Indeed, the Buhari’s catastrophic administration is knowledgeable that Nigerians are hopped-up to register en mass for their Permanent Voter's Cards (PVC) in order to end Buhari’s reign of maladministration.

In a desperate bid to stop the President’s ejection from office, a number of schemes have been devised to ensure Buhari’s reign of terror is sustained beyond 2019. One of such schemes, as any intelligent person may have observed during this period, is to frustrate Nigerians throughout the Continuous Voter's Registration (CVR) process. This accounts for why INEC registration centres, which ought to be in every polling unit throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are extremely so scarce that a potential voter can roam the entire Victoria Island in Lagos without coming in contact with one registration centre. These are deliberate ploys to frustrate voters in states where the whip of defeat is certain to land on the President’s ancient skin. It is tragic that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), under the watch of Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has allowed itself to be so easily manipulated in order to please the powers that be.

The initial discontinuation of voter’s registration slated for August 17th, 2018, which is said to have been ‘extended’ for a fortnight after a series of protests in Lagos and Abuja, is an affront on the intelligence of Nigerians because an extension does not presently exist when the Electoral Act clearly provides that voter's registration can only be discontinued sixty days before the day of election.

Part 3, S.9(5) of the Electoral Act provides succinctly as follows:

“The registration of voters, updating and revision of the register of voters under this section shall stop NOT LATER THAN 60 DAYS before any election covered by this Act.”

The above provision is so clear and simple that even unlearned people will have no difficulty in its interpretation. The claim of extension could have been valid if, for instance, INEC announced that voter's registration stops forty days before 2019 elections. Even elementary arithmetics tells us that from August 17th, 2018 to February 16th, 2019 is 183 days! Wherein lies Professor Mahmood’s purported extension? The much publicised two weeks ‘extension’ is a ruse and Nigerians ought to revolt against such a calculated scheme to disenfranchise potential voters who are impatient to see Buhari’s back as he re-unites with Daura.

But the man-made frustration created by Professor Mahmood’s INEC goes beyond deliberately frustrating qualified voters from getting registered. Those who get registered by dint of luck wait for eternity to get their Permanent Voter's Card (PVC) at a time when banks seamlessly issue automated teller machine (ATM) cards on the very day of application. The plot to plunge Nigeria and Nigerians into another four terrible years under the weary arms of a Buhari’s presidency is thick, ripe and already finalised.

I assert with emphasis that Professor Mahmood Yakubu will not and cannot conduct a free and fair election under Muhammadu Buhari. In fact, an electoral umpire who disregards several court summonses with stupendous impunity cannot be trusted to oversee a free and fair election. When a man exhibits such utter disrespect to the court, it is a clear indication that he has no respect for the Law of the land and its people.

Like President Buhari, Professor Mahmood Yakubu is from Northern Nigeria. In a country with Nigeria’s diversity, it is inappropriate for a sitting President to appoint a citizen who hails from his own part of the country to oversee an election in which he is a desperate contender. It is not out of place to raise this issue seeing that the Buhari Administration has demonstrated on several occasions that it is not interested in justice. Three examples to buttress this submission will suffice:

1. President Buhari’s sustained silence over Kemi Adeosun’s scandalous forgery of her NYSC certificate – a serving minister under the administration of a President who rode to power with the firm promise to suppress and completely eradicate corruption, stands as a testimony that Buhari and his cohorts are not interested in the implementation of justice in Nigeria.

2. President Buhari’s non-disclosure of his ailment and how much his well-consealed ailment has cost Nigerian taxpayers, lends credence to the fact that the administration lacks every modicum of transparency.

3. The recent gubernatorial election in Ekiti State where the Buhari’s Administration moved several bullion vans stashed with cash and subsequently introduced what is now known as: ‘SEE AND BUY ELECTION’ further strengthens my submission that the administration has a knack for trampling on justice.

Consequently, Buhari’s promise to conduct a free and fair election in 2019 is simply a mirage. The highest shenanigans in Nigeria’s political history will be manifested during the 2019 presidential elections and the Buhari’s Administration will be at the centre of it all, except the international community intervenes and decides to monitor proceedings with a keen interest.