A human rights activist and leader of the Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ndigbo International Royal Heritage Organization (NIROH), Dr Paul Okoye, has called for final resolutions of all cases related to the conduct and outcome of February 25, 2023, Presidential Election before swearing in the incoming President of Nigeria…..CONTINUE READING...CONTINUE READING
In a statement made available to New Telegraph, Okoye situated grounds for intervention to ensure non-swearing in of President-elect, Ahmed Bola Tinubu as President and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces on May 29, next month, until all disputations arising from petitions against the declaration of the winner and losers.
He pointed out that the controversies on certain provisions of both the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022 are germane for such
intervention to forestall the inauguration of Tinubu’s government to avoid an unforeseen crisis.
Okoye said: “Section 134 (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) states that a candidate to emerge as the President, he must have “not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation ‘and’ the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
Furthermore, he quoted Chapter 6. Part 1, Section 137, 1(d) as stating clearly that “a person shall be disqualified if he has a sentence of imprisonment or fine for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or for any other offence, imposed on him by any court or tribunal or substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal.”
He claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) overstepped its boundaries to declare
Tinubu as the President,-elect, gave such mandatory provisions of the law and guidelines.
The group, however, said, would use the opportunity of today’s Italy Obi-Datti March tagged, “SOS: On Democracy, We Stand,” to impress on the Italian leader Giorgia Meloni in particular and the international community the need to intervene now as the “world cannot afford to watch Nigeria drift to a point of no return. “All hands must be on deck to leave a bequeathing legacy for the succeeding generation and, more especially, to avert the looming danger and catastrophe.
Okoye said the call is part of the plans he has in collaboration with the other well-meaning Nigerians resident in Italy to deepen democracy and bring justice to bear on the last Presidential Election, contending that there is currently a stalemate in Nigeria.
According to him: “The electoral law stipulates that where the election is not transmitted in real-time, the election should be cancelled and re-conducted within a few days.
He alleged that, in readiness for the backlash that would follow the said electoral robbery by the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Measures have been taken to purportedly unleash the security agencies against the supporters of LP’s candidate, Peter Obi, popularly called the Obidients family.
“Noting that APC, with the aid of badly doctored evidence, is trying to pin Obi to a bad deal to malign him, he further condemned the overseas trip of Information Minister, Lai Mohammed who he accused of accusing Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi of alleged treason, in addition to assuming “the role of spokesman to INEC, claiming that they could not transmit the votes for fear of attack by hackers. Curiously, Amazon, on whose platform INEC’s digital electoral system was built, has no such incident record.”
“He also contended that the group has no faith that Nigeria’s local judges would make decisions that conflict with the will of the government, The Lead Convener of the March noted that the documents used in the poll only got uploaded some three weeks after the elections, stressing that the foregoing are some of the constitutional issues pending before the court which, in our opinion and for every reasonable person could be decided in one day.
He observed: “For Nigerian court, however, this might take all of four years or more before a decision is made, thanks to the habitual lethargy and apathy of the inert judges who would rather watch the nation drift into oblivion while working in cahoots with criminal politicians. “While acknowledging the limits of foreign interference in another sovereign entity, we believe that the government of Italy occupies a vital position on the global plane as practitioners and custodians of true democracy.
“Consequently, therefore, we formally appeal to the Italian government under the leadership of Giorgia Meloni to:
(a)condemn the February 25, 2023, presidential elections in Nigeria on the grounds of widespread irregularities that marred the outcome.
(b)mandate the Nigeria government to ensure that the judiciary concludes the adjudication process of the election petitions before the May 29, 2023 swearingin date.
(c)threaten to severe relationships with Nigeria should Tinubu be sworn in as president. “We affirm the above knowing that Italy is a major destination for desperate Nigerians who defy every threat on their path to Italy through the scorching deserts and the billowing seas.
“For decades this debate of the landing of# immigrants at Lampedusa had been ongoing and a major concern for the Italian community. “This situation offers a major opportunity to solve this problem definitely. The hard choice to make is the enthronement of functional democracy in Africa starting with Nigeria,” Okoye concluded…..CONTINUE READING
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