By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has identified twelve Muslim-dominated states in northern Nigeria which, according to it, serve as the greatest threat to the popularity, credibility, and acceptability of the 2023 Presidential Poll holding tomorrow, Saturday, February 25, 2023.

The areas include; the entire seven States of the North-West: Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara.

Others are North-East: Borno, Bauchi, Yobe, and Adamawa; and North-Central: Niger State.

Intersociety in a statement signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman, Intersociety, Chinwe Umeche Esq, Head, Democracy and Good Governance among others, and made available toNews Expressdescribed the areas as being thronged with high cases of unlawful and illegitimate voting using millions of underage, illegal migrants; registered by INEC as “PVC Voters”.

The statement partly reads: “Research reports by International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) have identified them as areas with high cases of unlawful and illegitimate voting using millions of underage, illegal migrants; registered by INEC as “PVC Voters.

"There are also rampant and unchecked cases of multiple voting and massive thumb-printing of ballot papers in restricted and unlawful places including religiously and culturally restricted places and bordering communities between Nigeria and Niger Republic, Nigeria and Chad and Nigeria and Cameroon, etc.

“This is more when, according to Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff, Lt Gen Lucky Irabor, “out of the 261 sanctioned borders in Nigeria, 137 are unmanned and largely unprotected by the Nigerian security agencies in Northern Nigeria areas of North-East and North-West involving Borno, Yobe, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina States, etc-bordering neighboring countries such as Niger Republic and Chad among others” and that “there are 364 approved international border points in Nigeria with 261 in the North-East and North-West, out of which 137 are unprotected, porous and largely unmanned by security agencies”. CDS Lucky Irabor stated the above in Lagos on Friday, 30th Sept 2022 while delivering a lecture on “Security, Defense and Development in Nigeria.”

Intersociety insisted that as far as the 2023 Presidential Poll is concerned, the 12 notorious Muslim-dominated presidential poll rigging states are the greatest threat facing the credibility, popularity, and acceptability of the 2023 important poll.

It called for the attention and searchlight of the respected international democracies, saying that they are urgently and forensically needed in the 12 notorious residential rigging northern states so as to ensure strict adherence by Nigeria’s INEC on “one-eligible-person-one-vote” using BVAS/IReV/PVC-secured voting.

The group added, "The attention of the respected international Democracies and other apostles of democracy, human rights, and rule of law must also be focused on contracted Network Providers in the areas so as to ensure that they do not conspiratorially and criminally collapse or compromise the communications networks on the day of the poll and make the areas unreachable and inaccessible; thereby providing a field day for the riggers.

“Rumors are also making the rounds that there is going to be a massive failure of BVAS machines and related others in the South especially South-East and South-South. This has to be promptly monitored and checkmated by the international democracies and concerned others.

“The international democracies called upon diplomatic chiefs of the 32 key international Democracies including the EU, US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, State of Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Czech, Portugal, Norway, Finland, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Australia, the Vatican, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico and Intergovernmental institutions like the United Nations, etc.

“Intersociety had recently alerted the respected Democratic Leaders of the referenced countries through a special letter dated Friday, 10th Feb 2023; prayerfully urging them to rise to the occasion to prevent Nigeria from being pushed into post-2023 presidential poll intractable complex uncertainties with the capacity of being far above their humanitarian intervention and control if erupted.”