A trained journalist and media practitioner, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan was the national publicity secretary of the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). As one of the spokesmen for the Presidential Campaign Council of the party in the last general election, the Kogi State-born politician gives his views on the election in this interview with Saturday Telegraph. Excerpts:

How do you see the recently held rounds of election in the country?

You know that I have not spoken since the last Presidential election which was badly conducted by INEC. Let me illustrate what has happened in the rounds of election with what took place in Adamawa State. What the Adamawa situation tells us is that it is a clear reflection of what transpired in the last Presidential election. It is a clear reflection of how INEC manipulated the entire process to favour the APC. The situation is so bad enough that INEC has soiled its integrity with the way it conducted the elections. When we look at what happened in Adamawa, the mere mention of a bribe to the commission by a certain political party amounting to the tune of N2b should serve as a cause for concern to all decent Nigerians. The corruption that enveloped the 2023 general election is so appalling and I want to leave it at that.

A lot of people are calling for the prosecution of the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa State as well as the leadership of the police command and the Directorate for State Security Service (DSS).You recollect that the IGP has redeployed the police commissioner in charge of the state. Do you think all that is enough?

If you look at what took place at that illegal declaration of the APC candidate by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, you will see that every agency of government was there including INEC. In a serious country, it would be unfair to isolate the Resident Electoral Commissioner and say that you have addressed the problem. What I am saying is that the INEC commissioner should not be the only person to be punished. What I think should be done by the government to correct the effect of that misdemeanor is that there should be a public hearing into what happened during the election since the country has no Electoral Offenses Tribunal. I expected that the expectations are that the Federal Government should constitute a public hearing which must be chaired by a respected judge. The commission should be charged with investigating what had happened during the election. That is the only way we can guarantee free and fair election in the future.

What purpose do you think that this proposal will serve?

It would guarantee free and fair elections in future. We need to do this urgently otherwise, future elections won’t be free, fair and transparent. You know that we have had a situation in the past where a policeman just went to a courtroom and declared a result for a governor who is still sitting today. The fellow became a governor by virtue of that action. We now have a situation where a REC who was not relying on any result came to the public and made a declaration. We are going to have a situation in the future if this is not properly addressed, we might have a situation in the future where somebody would call the media and announce the outcome of an election without the power to do so constitutionally. The expectation of Nigerians is that we need to address this matter properly through a proper public hearing, so that Nigerians would know who did what and what punishment should be meted out to errant people found culpable in that Adamawa State situation.

What’s your reading of the provision in regards to the president securing 25 per cent in 24 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory?

Do you think the president- elect should be sworn-in given that he didn’t get 25 percent of the votes in the FCT? I think we are back to the situation that took place in the 1979 Presidential Election. I don’t want us to arrive at a situation that would lead to a Constitutional crisis. I think we should follow whatever the Constitution, the Electoral Act and other statutes of the law prescribe in a situation like this. That’s why I said initially that we are back at the 1979 presidential situation in which the issue of 12 two thirds came up to determine if the then president elect, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. That’s my position on the issue.(Saturday Telegraph)