By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

A coalition of Human Rights group, International College For Rights and Democracy And Eastern Democracy And Rights Coalition has alleged that propagators of State Jihadism/Radical Islamism were behind the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s rigged 2023 Presidential poll

The Coalition noted that as Jihadist Herdsmen employed the massacre of hundred defenceless Christians to mark the rigging in Benue, Plateau, Enugu, Edo, Ondo, etc.

The coalition called for the resignation of NEC Chairman, National/State Commissioners and ICT Heads for brutally rigging Presidential poll and associated itself with calls for visa bans against 54 INEC officials and four governors.

The Coalition In a statement jointly signed by US Democracy Campaigner, John Gregg; and his Swiss counterpart, Berhard Warner, Board Chair of Ekwenche Research Institute, USA, Prof Justin Akujieze (a renowned physicist), Chairman of World Igbo Congres and for Intersociety, Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chairman, Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), South-East Zone, Comrade Aloysius Attah and his Anambra and Enugu Chairmen, Comrades Vincent Ezekwueme, among others, and made avaliable to News Express, said that state billions of Naira was earmarked to cause violence and compromise the Governorship/House of Assembly polls in Anambra, Enugu and Imo states, among others.

Harping on the sub heading “Propagators Of State Jihadism Masterminded Brutal Rigging Of The Presidential Poll”, the Rights groups said;

“The Joint Leaderships of the International College for Democracy and Human Rights and the Eastern Democracy and Human Rights Coalition have carefully studied and observed with deepest dismay that ‘propagators of State Jihadism and Radical Islamism’ are behind the INEC in-house brutally rigged 2023 Presidential Election.

“The rigging was perpetrated in their desperate bid to transform Nigeria or any part thereof into ‘a radical, retrogressive, rancorous and corrupt Islamic Republic’ where social retrogression, backwardness, primitivism, barbarism, violence and fears, blood and tears, chronic mass poverty, massive looting and squander-mania and abuse of power and public office will permanently remain the country’s corporate trademark and its policy and governance direction.

“Having rested the country’s seat of power on State Jihadism and radical Islamism, the outgoing central Government is stopping at nothing to advance and consolidate its radical Islamism policy by forcing the country’s presidency into “Muslim presidency and Muslim vice presidency (Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket),” in a country of 50-50 Christian-Muslim population composition.

“It was, therefore, in their desperation to ‘have this achieved at all costs’ that the entire INEC Management Team and structures were collapsed into carrying out brutal in-house rigging of the all-important presidential poll; done widespread and best be described as “brazenly and shamelessly executed INEC in-house armada of electoral fraud.”

“The propagators of State Jihadism and Radical Islamism under reference are located within the country’s public office establishment, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

On the sub head, “Bloods Of 100 Christians Spilled By Fulani Jihadists To Celebrate Rigged Muslim-Muslim Presidency,” the Coalition said that no fewer than 100 defenceless Christians have been slaughtered and their innocent bloods spilled by Fulani Jihadists who are foot-soldiers of the propagators of Nigeria’s State Jihadism and Radical Islamism, to celebrate the emergence of rigged ‘Muslim-Muslim Presidency’ by INEC.

It added: “As a matter of fact, slaughtering of no fewer than 60 of this number occurred in Benue State alone where, in four days or between 25^th Feb and 1^st March 2023, not less than 50 Christians alone were hacked to death in Kwande Local Government Area of the State.

“The killings were specifically perpetrated to mark “the APC winning of the presidential poll in Benue. In all, not less than 100 Christians were hacked to death by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen between 10^th Feb and 6^th March 2023 in the following states: Benue (Kwande and Guma), Enugu (Uzo Uwani and Nkanu East), Edo (Owan West), Ondo and Plateau States. No fewer than 5000 defenseless Christians were hacked to death in Nigeria in 2022, according to Intersociety statistics.”

Harping on its call for the resignation of “INEC National/State Commissioners And ICT Heads For Rigging The Poll,” the joint leadership of the Coalition expressed shock that members of the INEC National Management Team fingered in the in-house brutal rigging of the 2023 Presidential election were still parading themselves and going about without shame and remorse.

It stressed that the worst of all was that INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, still has the audacity to talk about “integrity and credibility, including another round of empty or fake assurances ahead of the March 11, 2023 Governorship and State Assembly polls.”

The Coalition added: "We are totally surprised that the entire INEC National Commissioners (12 to 14 in number), 37 State Resident Electoral Commissioners, the Commission’s Director and Deputy Director of ICT and its National Chairman (Prof Mahmood Yakubu), numbering 54 have refused to voluntarily vacate their offices and apologize to Nigerians whose sacred electoral wishes were brutally subverted.

“Apart from publicly evidential brutal rigging of the presidential poll, emerging facts from the Commission’s server and IReV portals have also put the Commission’s grossly uploaded results at grave variance with the ones roguishly announced and declared.

“We hereby call on 12 to 14 serving National Commissioners, 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners, Director/Deputy Director of ICT and Prof Mahmood Yakubu to collectively and voluntarily resign and vacate their offices with immediate effect.

“The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Otuoke in Bayelsa State, Prof Teddy Charles Adias, must also resign as the University’s Vice Chancellor and barred for life from involvement in any election supervision in Nigeria or any part thereof. These are on account of his ignoble role in Rivers State where he served as the State Collation Officer and aided the armada of electoral fraud in connivance with Barr. Nyesom Wike, Governor of the State.”

Calling for the adoption of Intersociety’s seven key demands to foreign democracies against the poll riggers, the group said that was adopting the Intersociety’s seven key demands listed as follows:

“Slamming visa sanctions and other international travel, engagement and recognition restrictions on the serving Gov of Imo State and office immunity losing (outgoing) Govs of Rivers, Kaduna and Ebonyi States, repatriating all their stashed away material and human deposits and monetary valuable services (if any) traced and linked to the 58 top INEC officials and strongly suspected office atrocity perpetrator Govs named, ensuring that all members of their nuclear families living or holidaying or studying anywhere in the named respected countries and their assets and liabilities are speedily repatriated back to Nigeria and permanently embargoed from finding their way back to the respected countries.

“Stripping Prof Mahmood Yakubu and Festus Okoye Esquire of international forums and opportunities to speak emptily and noisily and stop from receiving undue international attentions and recognitions and permanently barred from traveling to any of the 31 respected Democratic countries named including their nuclear family members.

“Holistically reviewing future funding and international democracy support funds to INEC and its rubberstamping CSOs including scholarships and sponsorship of their international visitations and exchange programs and speech deliveries, reviewing downward funding of Election Day monitoring and upward reviewing of supporting independent CSOs’ critical oversight on INEC especially during Continuous Voters’ Registration and Distribution of Permanent Voters’ Cards to discourage disenfranchisement and enhance enfranchisement.

“Mounting sufficient pressure and tying future democracy support funding to INEC on full digitalization of voting process or dualization of voting in the country or any part thereof to include electronic PVC and manual PVC voting; whereby registered voters can vote from their homes or choose to vote physically at polling units with their votes count.”

On the State Billons For Violence & To Compromise Governorship/Assembly Polls In Anambra, Enugu, Etc, it said,

“Intersociety has shared credible information with us from reliable sources indicating that the worst is likely yet to come as it concerns the INEC-coordinated brutal and widespread rigging of the 2023 General Elections particularly the Presidential Poll.

“The shifted Governorship and State Assembly Elections are not expected to reflect remarkable positive changes, but to be further marred by heavy monetary and material inducements using billions illegitimately withdrawn by Govs from their State coffers.

”This is to the extent that there are most likely going to be terrorization of voters and heavy monetary and material inducement of voting process within and outside polling units.

“Plans have been concluded in Anambra and Enugu to monetarily and materially induce rural and urban community leaders including town union presidents, traditional rulers, youth leaders, leaders of landlords associations and transport unions, etc. Billions of naira worth of cash and hundreds of thousands of cartons or bags of preserved food items including INDOMIE, tomatoes, rice, etc, have also been procured in that regard.

“Other beneficiaries of earmarked State billions are key National and State INEC staffs (.i.e. National Commissioners for States, Resident Electoral Commissioners, SPOs, Eos, AEOs and State and LGA heads of INEC ICT). State actor violence has also been earmarked to be unleashed in areas where State Assembly candidates of the spending State Governments are likely to lose or about to lose during the poll.”

It listed Anambra State as a State to watch, even as it named Enugu, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Delta, Rivers, Lagos State as other victim states.

According to the rights groups, the sharing of the State billions in Anambra (“mobilization of INEC officials/community leaders”) is reported to have been fixed for Thursday, 9^th March, 2023. Apart from fears of losing State gubernatorial incumbencies, there are also fears of losing majority in the State Assemblies/impeachment fears especially in Anambra State.

The Coalition called on the security agencies to rise to the occasion by thwarting the plots and protecting voters to vote conscientiously.

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