By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Voters Rights Association of Nigeria (VRAN) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) to recount the ballots cast on the February 25, 2023 presidential election, threatening to drag the Commission to court if it fails to do the votes recounting.

The warning is contained In a letter signed by a Human Rights Lawyer and President of the group, Dr. Jezie Ekejiuba, through which VRAN called on INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to avoid putting the electoral agency in a legal harm’s way.

The statement partly reads: “Mr. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, please do not put the electoral agency, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in which you are privileged to head in the legal harmsway by avoiding unnecessary litigations and legal expenses of tax payers in defending suits filed by aggrieved Nigerians whose votes did not count during the last Presidential election on Saturday, February 25,2023 under your watch.

“This Warning letter became necessary because of your corrupt, dishonest and suspicious attitude in the manner and method you adopted for the collation and declaration of the said Presidential election result in which you have turned all the prescribed laws guiding the collation and declaration of result under the Nigerian Electoral Act and Constitution upside down. This can only happen in a banana republic where rule of law is not respected.

“Let me inform you that based on the polling units results nationwide, Peter Obi of Labour Party won the presidential election with landslide victory but it was rigged by INEC in favour of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of APC who was illegally declared President-elect.

“So every accusation of rigging of the said Presidential election result deserves to be heaped at the doorstep of INEC, and not Tinubu or his party, APC.

“It is an inalienable right of every Nigerian voter, including myself, that his or her vote must count in every election on the principle of One Man, One Vote. The corrupt manner and method you adopted to conduct the Presidential and National Assembly polls by disenfranchising millions of registered voters and the brazen violation of all known electoral laws, guidelines and constitutional provisions on how to collate and declare results, especially, the Presidential result, is shameful and embarrassing to the citizens of this country at home and in the diaspora. What a shame!”

Ekejiuba stressed that the conduct of the Commission has thus resulted in his vote on February 25 Presidential election for Peter Obi of Labour Party not being counted, adding that the only way his anger can be assuaged is to embark on the total recount of votes cast in the Presidential ballot of February 25 so as to ensure that his vote and the votes of millions of other Nigerian voters who elected Peter Obi as Nigeria’s new President were duly counted and made public.

“You are demanded to do so within 14 days of becoming aware of this Warning letter. This letter is to enable you to follow the peaceful path as no law requires me to warn you before suing the commission.

“Should the commission fail or neglect to heed the demand of this letter, I shall have no other alternative than to sue you in the Federal High Court of Justice and seek for exemplary and general damages for depriving me of my cherished vote and causing me untold emotional distress, shame, trauma, mental harassment, embarrassment, hypertension and sickness.

“By your illegal action itemized above, it seems that the commission has lost sight of my Enugu Court of Appeal decision in Barr. Jezie Ekejiuba vs INEC & Anor which struck down all the provisions of the Electoral Act under which your commission were carrying out illegalities of deregistration of political parties before you ran from the Supreme Court where you lodged frivolous appeal against me to the National Assembly that helped you to restore the struck down provisions back into the amended 1999 Constitution. NASS may not help your commission in this your current rape of democracy and the Rule of law,” Ekejiuba said.

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