(Special Investigative Report By Intersociety Team For Int’l College Of Democracy And Human Rights Scholars, Enugu)
Identity Of Intersociety
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) is Nigeria’s leading and respected research and investigative democracy, human rights, rule of law and public security and safety advocacy organization since July 2008. Intersociety isheadquartered in Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria and incorporated in 2008 under the Part C of Nigeria’s Companies and Allied Matters Act of 2004. It is led by activist experts including criminologists, lawyers, peace and conflict resolution and security studies’ experts, journalists and others. Intersociety is well known and respected locally and globally for its research and investigation on democracy and human rights related issues, among others. It carries out its research and investigation through expert volunteers; and documents, publishes and issues reports or statements periodically including on weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis. In the subject matter under reference, Intersociety has been strongly advocating for credible electoral process in Nigeria or any part thereof including inclusion and popular participation such as mass enfranchisement of citizens of voting age regardless of their class, gender, ethnicity and religion. These, Intersociety has been championing since 2010; a period of over 12 years.
Introduction:
This Special Investigative Report was carried out by Intersociety for the International College of Democracy and Human Rights Scholars in Enugu, Nigeria. The Inter-College for Democracy and Human Rights is a recently formed intellectual pressure group involving 132 expert activists including a respected Swiss and an American int’l Democracy and Human Rights Campaigners, 41 Professors, 20 Doctorate Degree Holders, 30 Lawyers, 19 Religious Leaders, 14 key Eastern Nigerian CSO Leaders, Criminologists, Security Experts, and other specialist activists. The Report is a facts laden exposure, exposing over 50 poll rigging plots by Nigeria’s ‘Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’ ahead of the all-important 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election. The exposed rigging plots had included different segregating technicalities employed by the Commission leading to massive disenfranchisement of not less than 77.7m citizens comprising registered and unregistered voters including 18.2 million new voters’ registrations destroyed by the Commission. There are also over 20m denied Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) since 2019 after having been registered and 9.5m new registered voters yet to be issued with PVCs. The remaining 30m citizens of voting age represent those never registered by INEC especially during the 2021/2022 CVR exercise; totaling 77.7m disenfranchised citizens of voting age. The Special Investigative Report also found the existence of not less than 20m ineligible identities in the National Voters’ List, comprising 8m registered minors, 2m illegal migrants, 4m fake names and 6m stolen identities. These tens of millions of Nigerian citizens of voting age were also found to have been massively disenfranchised by the Electoral Body on ethnic and religious grounds. The mass disenfranchisement of 48.2m of the 77.7m took place during the country’s Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) conducted between 28th June 2021 and 31st July 2022 and thereafter. The saddest part of it all was that out of the over 50 poll rigging plots, 27 were successfully executed during the CVR and 23 others lined up for execution August 2022 and Presidential Election Day of 25th Feb 2023. The Special Investigative Report was therefore conducted bearing in mind the fact that “the Gateway into election rigging anywhere in the world particularly Nigeria is massive disenfranchisement of citizens of voting age during voters’ registration and revalidation exercises and massive denial of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) during distribution and issuance of PVCs”.
Cardinal Objective Of This Special Investigative Report
The cardinal objective of this Special Investigative Report is to ensure that Nigeria holds crisis or turbulence free and participatory, inclusive, pluralistic and credible General Elections especially the Presidential Poll in 2023. Such Elections cannot take place without maximum enfranchisement through voters’ registration and issuance of Permanent Voters’ Cards, of citizens of voting age without discrimination as to their religion, ethnicity and class. It must be noted here that Intersociety has nothing against Muslims in the North or South but seriously frowns at them being given undue advantage over others-despite the heterogeneous ethno-religious composition of the country. Nigeria is also going to perform a major transfer of power to next sets of leaders at national and sub-national levels on 29th May 2023 and as a result, requires popular and credible General Elections to heal its protracted wounds fueled by deep-seated ethnic and religious divisions and protracted violence against persons and properties orchestrated by murderous state actors and non state actors following long years of bad leaders and leaderships in power. In other countries that embrace credible democratic process and rule of law, their inclusive and popular polls are powered by massive enfranchisement of citizens of voting age and their protection to freely and safely vote candidates of their voice.
Nigeria’s INEC in the instant case (2023 democratic process) had been forensically followed and found to have fumbled and wobbled alarmingly; to the extent of earning notoriety in the playing of ethnic and religious cards or promotion of ethno-religious divisions as a policy direction. Intersociety had also carefully followed and monitored INEC especially since the commencement of 2021/2022 CVR; in line with our belief that it is a moral disservice to the citizenry for key Democracy and Rights CSOs to sit by and do nothing especially during CVR and PVC distribution exercises only to wake up on Election Day to “monitor polls that have already been massively rigged” through the use or application of different segregating, exclusionist and disenfranchisement patterns including discriminatory voters’ registration and distribution of PVCs and digital or scientific rigging. Intersociety therefore sees totality of the above as capable, if unaddressed, of forcing the 2023 revolutionary presidential race from ballot revolution to unquenchable street revolution-with capacity of plunging the country into complex uncertainties. The contrary can only be the case if Nigeria’s INEC is timely compelled to do that which is democratically just and upright.
Finally, it must be clearly pointed out that this Special Investigative Report does not require stress of proof as most of the contents therein are self evident, requiring no further proofs or explanations. This is more so when 95% of the data used in compilation of the Report are official data released by INEC. Intersociety had since June 2021 carefully and meticulously been compiling and documenting relevant INEC’s publications and pronouncements regarding the Commission’s preparations towards the 2023 General Elections. INEC’s National Headquarters was also duly written trice including on 14th July and 10th August 2022 by the Enugu base Int’l College of Democracy and Human Rights Scholars which Intersociety is its coordinating partner, but the Commission chose not to respond till date.
Nigerian Constitution And Treaty Laws Provide For Citizens’ Enfranchisement And Voting
Several provisions abound in Nigeria’s Constitution of 1999 and regional and international instruments acceded to by the country including the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (ratified and domesticated in 1983) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ratified in 1993) providing and ensuring that all citizens of voting age irrespective of tribe, gender, class and religion; wishing to be registered, are registered as eligible voters by INEC, issued with PVCs and protected to conscientiously vote for candidates of their choice especially during the all-important 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election. Legal provisions are also mandatorily made for citizens of voting age in Nigeria with requisite qualifications and capacities to be protected and voted for. It must be boldly stated that it is the fundamental human right of all citizens of voting age to undeniably be allowed and protected to participate in electoral or political process regardless of their tribe, religion, gender and class. Wide spread or mass disenfranchisement of citizens of voting age by INEC and its co-travelers using different technical hitches widely highlighted in this Special Investigative Report has become a recurring decimal in the country’s electoral process since 2015 and remained a serious threat to independence and credibility of the Commission especially ahead of the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election.
Specific Local And International Legal Provisions Supporting Enfranchisement And Voting
By Sections 38, 39, 40 and 41 of the Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), rights to freedom of thought and conscience; freedom of expression including freedom to hold independent political opinions; freedom of Assembly and Association; and right to freely move and reside in any part of the country are legally guaranteed. By Section 42 of the same Constitution, freedom from discrimination on the grounds of gender, class, tribe and religion is also guaranteed. By Section 46 of the Constitution of the FRN 1999, the above highlighted ‘Fundamental Human Rights Provisions’ are ‘justiciable’ and approachable before any High Court of Justice in Nigeria by any citizen or group. Beyond seeking Court remedies, violation of those provisions can force the revolutionary citizens into violent self help including uprising or street revolution. At regional and international levels, Articles 2, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights of 1981, under the African Union, guaranteed right to freedom from discrimination and rights to freedom of conscience, Association, Assembly and movement and right to participate in National Government; while Articles 18 and 19 of the Int’l Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1976 guaranteed rights to conscience and independent political opinions as well as its Articles 21, 22, 24 and 25 which provided for rights to freedom of Assembly and Association and freedom from discrimination and right to political participation without discrimination as to ethnicity, religion, class and gender.
Powers And Functions Of INEC In The Eyes Of The Law
The Independent National Electoral Commission is a creation of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 as amended. This is by virtue of Section 153 (f) of the Constitution, which is further fortified by Section 14 (1`) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the Constitution, prescribing its functions in its Section 15 to include: ‘organize, undertake and supervise all elections involving presidency, governorship and state and federal legislatures’ and ‘arrange and conduct the registration of persons qualified to vote and prepare, maintain and revise the register of voters for the purpose of any election under this Constitution’. INEC was formatively created by the INEC Establishment Act of 2004, and by Section 2 (3) of the Act, ‘the Chairman and members of the Commission shall be persons of unquestionable integrity’. INEC is also recognized by Section 2 of the Electoral Act of 2010 (presently cited as the Electoral Act of 2022 as amended) and by Section 9 of the Electoral Act, in its Part 3, the Commission is empowered and mandated to ‘compile, maintain and update, on continuous basis, a National Register of Voters’. These include registration of new voters (in accordance with the citizens’ constitutional rights to political participation including voting and vying for elective offices; and freedom of association, assembly, expression and conscience and freedom from discrimination); updating of the registered voters and transfer of their PVCs to new areas of their residence (in accordance with the citizens’ rights to freedom of movement and residency); and issuance of PVCs after being captured as registered voters for purpose of the citizens’ participation in any election (.i.e. 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election). Also by Section 12 of the 2022 Electoral Act, as amended, “a person shall be qualified as a voter if such a person is: (a) a citizen of Nigeria, (b) has attained the age of 18 years and (c) is ordinarily a resident, works in, originates from the Local Government, Area Council or Ward covered by the registration center”.
INEC And Islamic Jihadists As Serious Threats To 2023 Presidential Poll
The Special Investigative Report has identified Nigeria’s INEC and internationally, regionally and locally assembled Islamic Jihadists in Nigeria as serious threats to popular, peaceful and credible conduct of the country’s 2023 Presidential Election. While INEC constitutes a serious threat to the Poll on account of the exposed 50 major poll rigging plots and litany of other illegalities, the assembled Jihadists also constitute a grave danger to the Poll following informed widespread fears and alarms indicating that what happened in the battered and failed Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021 are very likely to be repeated in Nigeria ahead of the country’s Presidential Poll fixed for 25th Feb 2023. Intersociety had in its statement on 1st August 2022 warned seriously that Islamic Jihadists funded by extremist political and security actors in Government are most likely to have adopted “the Afghan Jihadism option as their Plan B”; aimed at bloody takeover of the Nigeria’s Capital City and Seat of Power and declaration of Nigeria as “an Islamic Caliphate”. Those in this chaotic and calamitous political game plan using Islamic Jihadists are the politico-religious conservatives and proponents of “Muslim-Muslim Presidential Ticket” in a country of roughly 50-50 Christian-Muslim population and multiplicity of ethno-religious groupings numbering 386. The United States of America through its Embassy in Abuja has also released an intelligence warning of imminent Jihadist terrorists’ attacks in Abuja and environs including places of worship and Government facilities and those belonging to international institutions, etc. Added to the above is clandestine spreading of Jihadists including Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen in various forests, bushes, farmlands and major road networks and their bypasses in strategic areas of the East to heighten sundry jihadist terrors for purpose of scaring millions of voters from the Region away and keep them off voting centers on Presidential Election Day of 25th Feb 2023.
120 Million Citizens Of Voting Age Exist In Nigeria
According to the current United Nations population statistics including the Worldometer (world’s live statistics on population, economy and so on), Nigeria’s estimated population as at Tuesday, 20th Dec 2022 is 218.7m, out of which 55% or more than 120m represent those in 18 years and above or citizens of voting age. By INEC’s recent official statistics tracked in several print and online media, “the total registered voters in the country as at Feb 2019 were 84m and 93,522.272 by Nov 2022”. INEC also announced that “9.5m citizens were registered as voters between 28th June 2021 and Nov 2022 and more than 20m Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) have not been given to their owners since 2019 or before the commencement of 2021/2022 CVR on 28th June 2021”; out of which, it has been independently estimated that many belong to Southern and Northern Christians.
Breached Laws And Other Illegalities Of INEC
Going by Intersociety’s Findingsback in June (2022), desperate moves were strongly made under INEC resulting in capturing millions of under-age persons and illegal aliens as “registered voters in Nigeria” (contrary to Section 12 of the 2022 Electoral Act as amended) for them to vote in the 2023 Presidential Election. Pieces of pictorial and video evidence also dotted social and mainstream media exposing registration of minors in far North including Yobe and other Muslim States. These illegalities as part of INEC’s desperation have culminated in flooding the National Register of Voters with estimated 20m illegal migrants, under-age children, ghost or fake names and stolen identities or stolen and diverted PVCs. The Commission was also strongly believed to have been very uncomfortable with a surge in voters’ registration especially by non Muslim citizens between May and July 2022. This is against the backdrop of INEC’s announcement of ‘the successful registration of 6.2m citizens of voting age as at end of May 2022; out of which, 4.5m were youths were captured-with majority of them registered through INEC’s online registration portal. The Commission also ensured that the surge in the 2022 CVR from the South and other Christian areas did not place them ahead of Muslim States and further ensured that densely populated Southeast Region remained at the bottom with least number of registered voters while northern States like Borno, a very unsafe and insurgency stricken State continued to record geometric increase in the number of new registrants far much above many Southern States. A respected former Nigerian envoy with over thirty years in regional and international diplomacy had back in June 2022 shared intelligence with Intersociety, informing that under the watch of INEC, “over 21 registration centers were created and run by the Commission during the 2022 CVR exercise in Southern Niger Republic, capturing nomads and other allied Muslims from different areas of black Africa and Sahel as registered voters to vote in Nigeria’s 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election”. The respected former envoy also informed that “N50, 000 or its equivalent in CFA Franc was offered to each registrant” by agents of the country’s two leading political parties, perpetrated in collusion with INEC. It was as a result of the above that INEC was written and urged to publicly speak on the weighty allegation on 14th July 2022 by the International College of Democracy and Human Rights Scholars, Enugu, which Intersociety is an integral part of. Sadly and shockingly, the Commission received the letter and refused to speak till date. Fears also abound that the aforementioned illegalities of INEC were likely to have been replicated in Nigerian-Chadian and Nigerian-Northern Cameroonian border areas during the 2022 CVR.
$11B Digital Rigging Plot Now At The Stage Of Implementation
Intersociety is recalling a recent documentary that widely trended on social media strongly alleging ‘evil plots’ by present federal authorities in Nigeria and their ruling party as well as selected agencies and parastatals of the Federal Government of Nigeria and Govs in charge of the APC controlled States, in full collusion with INEC, to massively and scientifically manipulate (digital poll rigging) the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election; to be executed with whopping N6.5trillion or $11b, to be sourced and distributed to targeted millions of registered PVC holders/voters through phony charities and names. The widely social media trended documentary was tagged: “2023 Presidential Election Evil Plans of APC”. Intersociety had raised the issue in a letter to INEC authorities, dated 14th July 2022 and till date; the Commission has chosen to decline comment. Today, the digital election rigging plot has not only turned out to be real but also entered implementation stage. The above is to the extent that the leadership of CUPP had in its press conference of 21st Nov 2022, monitored live by the Arise TV, announced fresh discovery of “Wire-Wire Digital Vote Rigging” plot in which over 10m bank accounts and their owners’ PVC details have been harvested for digital rigging of the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. The unmasked plot is hatched in at least 22 States with different phony charity names-whereby the over 10m harvested bank account and PVC owners will receive specified amount of money through bank transfer in return for surrendering their PVC details for lifeless digital voting in Feb 2023 Poll-whereby their biometric voting details will be uploaded or manipulatively added to INEC voting and result records on the Eve of Election Day or on the Presidential Election Day proper as “lawfully cast votes” for purpose of imposing on Nigeria and Nigerians INEC’s anointed presidential candidate as next President of Nigeria. The CUPP’s allegation was confirmed on Monday, 12th Dec 2022 by INEC’s National Commissioner for FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau, Mohammed Haruna that “politicians buy PVCs and financially induce their owners to harvest their PVC’s VINs to digitally rig 2023 polls”.
30m Citizens Of Voting Age Never Registered In 2021/2022 CVR
From several investigations carried out by Intersociety, while no fewer than 20m of the so called “93.5million registered voters in the country” are unlawfully registered by INEC as “voters” including estimated 8m under-age children, 2m illegal migrants, 6m stolen identities (stolen or diverted PVCs) and 4m fictitious or ghost names (.i.e. duplicated/multiple names) recently exposed by CUPP and other democracy advocacy groups and activists; there are estimated 30m citizens of voting age that were not captured or registered by INEC in the 2021/2022 CVR or registered as voters since they were born. Among the 30m unregistered citizens of voting age are also millions denied registration from 31st July to 25th Nov 2022 (115 days); a lawful Continuous Voters’ Registration period breached by INEC by abruptly ending same four months (over 115 days) to the polls instead of the legally provided three months or 90 days. The affected millions of the unregistered citizens of voting age include those that would have turned 18 years by 25th Nov 2022 and others that would have registered online but for abrupt and suspicious shutting down by INEC, of the online registration portal on 31st May 2022; which was done sixty days before the 31st July 2022 unlawful closure of the exercise; or seven months to the 90 days lawful deadline for closing the exercise. Failure by INEC to register the above categories of citizens of voting age is not only inexcusably impeachable but also a serious constitutional infraction and grievous violation of Section 12 of the 2022 Electoral Act as amended. It must be clarified that the 30m unregistered citizens of voting age did not include 18.2m recent registrations destroyed by INEC especially the 11m successful online registrants whose registrations were destroyed by the Commission having failed to capture their physical biometrics after they have successfully registered online.
Regional Breakdown Of Estimated 30m Unregistered Voters In Nigeria
Out of the 30m unregistered citizens of voting age, South-East is the worst hit with estimated 7m, followed by South-West with 6m (including estimated 2m Igbo citizens of voting age), South-South 5m (including estimated 2m Igbo citizens of voting age), North-Central 5m (mostly Christians), North-East 3.5m (mainly Christians of Adamawa, Taraba, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe and Yobe); and North-West 2.5m (mainly Christians and non natives). Igbo Ethnic Nationality, with more than 60m of the country’s 218.7m population, according to UN estimates of 20th Dec 2022, is home to estimated 30m citizens of voting age or 50% of its total within-the-country population (excluding Igbo population in Diaspora); out of which, 23m are found in South-East and South-South and 7m others located outside the two Regions with Lagos/Ogun, Kano and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) topping the list.
INEC Deliberately Destroyed 18.2m Of 27.7m New Registrations During 2021/2022 CVR
The 18.2m new registrations captured between 28th June 2021 and 31st July 2022 had involved citizens of voting age whose registrations were deliberately destroyed by INEC during CVR; out of 27.7m total registrations. They included 7m-11m successful online registrants massively disenfranchised by the Commission over its failure to capture their physical biometrics at designated registration centers across the country before the closure of the CVR exercise on 31st July 2022. Others affected by the massive destruction are 1.12m destroyed by INEC between 28th June 2021 and 12th Jan 2022; 1.85m destroyed by the Commission between 1st Jan and 28th June 2022; 1.1m destroyed by the Commission in Jan 2022 and total of 2.78m destroyed between 31st July and 12th Oct 2022. These are according to INEC’s publicly released official statistics.
29.5m Registered Voters Still Denied PVCs In Nigeria
Total of 29.5m registered voters are still denied PVCs by INEC and as at this November 2022 and are ineligible to participate and vote in any election in Nigeria or any part thereof; whether bye-election, legislative, governorship, local government or presidential. By INEC’s official records evaluated by Intersociety, there are no fewer than 29.5m registered citizens of voting age denied PVCs as at Nov 2022; including 20m registered voters denied PVCs since 2019 or before commencement of the 2021/2022 CVR exercise and 9.5m newly registered voters captured by INEC between 28th June 2021 and 31st July 2022 who are yet to be issued with PVCs. It is further strongly suspected that many of them belong to citizens of Christian Faith and non Muslim others. With INEC’s unchecked discriminatory policy, gross incompetence and nonchalant attitudes, it is strongly estimated that not more than 6m of the 29.5m registered voters without PVCs will be issued PVCs in the end or between Nov 2022 and Jan 2023 or before Election Day of Feb 25, 2023. Following outcries by public and other interest groups, INEC was forced to issue a statement on Sat, 3rd Dec 2023, saying that “distribution of PVCs for registered voters has been set for between 12th Dec 2022 and 22nd Jan 2023 at the country’s 8,809 electoral wards and 774 Local Government Areas”; thereby shrinking it only 26 days excluding 14 days of Christmas and New Year season/holiday.
Expect 40m Genuine Voters From 93.5m Registered ‘Voters’ & 35% To Vote In The Feb Poll
By our forensic evaluation of INEC’s statistics, the total number of citizens that may end up as ‘genuine Nigerian PVC holders for the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll is 40m from the ’93.5m registered voters in the country’s Voters’ Register. The figure of 40m genuine voters was deducted from 50m, made up of 44m projected genuine PVC holders as at Feb 2019 and fresh 6m genuine PVC holders expected from those registered voters yet to be issued with PVCs between Nov 2022 and end of Jan 2023. It is further observed that out of the 50m, not less than 10m have been compromised through “wire-wire digital vote rigging” or “supply your bank account and PVC details in return for receiving specific amount of money through bank wiring or transfer”. Under the latest digital rigging project, over 10m bank accounts and their PVC details have been harvested as at 3rd Dec 2022. Intersociety also projected that out of the 40m genuine PVC holders, 14m voters or 35% may be allowed to vote in the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. Generally, Nigeria’s ’93.5m’ in Voters’ Register includes 29.5m registered voters without PVCs, over 20m ineligible, fake and stolen identities and 44m deemed as ‘genuine PVC holders’.
Intersociety Projects 18m ‘Dead Votes’ And 14m ‘Living Votes’ In Feb 2023 Presidential Poll
Projected, independently speaking, is at least 18m ‘dead votes’ from registered underage children, migrants, fake and stolen identities to form significant majority of the projected total presidential poll votes of 32m in the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. The most worrying of it all is that, if no concrete drastic measure is taken to scuttle this horrendous poll rigging plot, the projected 18m ‘dead votes’ will swallow the expected 14m ‘living votes’. In other words, the Nigeria’s 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll to take place in 176,846 polling units under the existing 8,809 electoral wards is independently projected to end with 32m votes-comprising ‘dead votes’ of 18m from criminal voting and ‘living votes’ of 14m from legitimate voting. The 18m ‘dead votes’, if allowed, will be a serious blow to political participation and the fundamental right of the citizens to freely and popularly choose their democratic leaders without discrimination as to their tribe or ethnicity, religion and class. The voting projections above were arrived at using the Presidential Poll of March 2015 during which out of over 30,000 presidential poll votes as total scores, 13.9m votes were fake; out of which 10.2m were credited to Buhari of APC and 3.6m to Jonathan of PDP. Intersociety is also deeply worried over the likelihood of disproportionate representation in the projected 14m ‘living votes’-along ethnic and religious lines; a chief motive of INEC to destroy substantial part of the 2021/2022 CVR and hoard PVCs belonging to 29.5m Nigerians so as to install its favored candidate(s) on the grounds of ethnicity and religion using substantial part of the ethno-religiously disproportionate 2019 voters’ list.
77.7m Disenfranchised: 48.2m Denied Registration & 29.5m Registered Voters Denied PVCs
The grand summary of the illegalities of INEC ahead of Nigeria’s 2023 General Elections especially the Presidential Poll is that a total of 77.7m citizens of voting age, as at Nov 2022 have been disenfranchised and unlawfully excluded from participating and voting in the 2023 General Elections especially the Presidential Poll. Out of this shocking number, at least 48.2m; believed to be mainly non Muslims were denied registration including 30m unregistered citizens never registered as voters in Nigeria and 18.2m new registrants whose registrations were deliberately destroyed by INEC. There are also no fewer than 20m registered voters denied PVCs since 2019 or before the commencement of the 2021/2022 Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) on 28th June 2021 and 9.5m newly registered voters captured between 28th June 2021 and 31st July 2022, who are yet to receive their PVCs.
How Nigerian General Voting Population Was Increased To 140m With 20m Fake Identities
Nigeria’s current registered and unregistered voting population of 120m has been overshot with 20m ineligible names comprising estimated 8m underage children, 2m migrants, 4m fake or fictitious names and 6m stolen identities or stolen and diverted PVCs belonging to genuinely registered Nigerian voters yet to be given PVCs since Feb 2019. In other words, out of the country’s UN estimated general population of 218.7m as at 20th Dec 2022, not less than 120m are genuine Nigerian citizens of voting age, out of which 73.5m represent genuine registered Nigerian voters and 20m others represent fake and ineligible identities. This is as at 24th Nov 2022. It must also be noted that out of the 73.5m genuine registered Nigerian voting population, 29.5m have not been given their PVCs since Feb 2019 and August 2022; leaving only 44m registered voters with PVCs. Out of the remaining 44m genuine PVC holders, 10m have been compromised to vote against their consciences during the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential; leaving the country with 34m as the remaining and only conscientious voters. With growing level insecurity and INEC’s bureaucratic hitches, bottlenecks and unchecked illegalities, only 35% or 14m of the remaining 34m conscientious PVC holders may vote in the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. This paltry figure is most likely to be significantly swallowed by at least 18m ‘dead votes’ from underage children, illegal migrants, fake or fictitious names and stolen identities. Intersociety is also worried and deeply fearful that INEC might have skewed the 34m genuine Nigerian PVC holders by significantly allocating greater number to voting citizens of Northern and South-West Muslim affiliation to outweigh their Christian counterparts-in solidarity with the exponents of the “Muslim-Muslim Presidential Poll Ticket”. Total presidential votes of 32m-33m are also being independently projected for the 25th Feb 2023 Poll.
Nigeria’s Voters’ List Dirtiest In The World With 20m Fake Identities Since 2015
While 77.7m genuine Nigerian citizens of voting age have been disenfranchised and unlawfully excluded from participating and voting in the 2023 Presidential Poll, over 20m fake and ineligible identities have flooded Nigeria’s Voters’ List between 2015 and 2022. This is to the extent that not less than 8m of the over 20m fake and ineligible identities are underage children. The 2m of the 20m fake and ineligible identities belong to illegal migrants while 6m and 4m, respectively, belong to fake or fictitious names and stolen identities or stolen and diverted PVCs originally belonging to other Nigerian citizens of registered voting age denied PVCs since 2019 Totality of the above has made or ranked the country’s Voters’ List (National Voters’ Register) as “the dirtiest in the world”. Greater number of the 2m fake or fictitious names and 6m stolen identities (stolen and diverted PVCs) found their way into the Voters’ List by INEC between April and July 2022. It is the finding of Intersociety that the registration of Muslim minors and illegal migrants found its way into the National Register of Voters in 2014/2014 under Prof Attahiru Jega (2010-2015) as INEC Chairman and widely continued in 2018/2019 and 2021/2022 under Prof Mahmood Yakubu (since 21st Oct 2015) as INEC Chairman. The criminal practice of flooding and polluting the National Register of Voters with fictitious and ghost names in their millions as “registered voters in Nigeria” was first witnessed in 2006-2009 under Prof Maurice Iwu (2005-2010) as INEC Chairman and staged a fierce come back fifteen years after in 2021/2022 under Prof Mahmood Yakubu as current Chairman of INEC.
Recently Displayed Voters’ List Exposed More Millions Of Underage And Ineligible Identities
In the recently displayed voters’ list conducted in Nigeria’s 8,809 electoral wards, commenced on 12th Nov 2022 and ended on 25th Nov 2022, several television news clips, videos and photos emerged from core Northern States of Sokoto, Yobe, Kano, Kebbi, Kastina, Zamfara, etc involving millions of registered minors trouping to the voter verification centers. As a matter of fact, the Coalition of the Opposition Registered Political Parties in Nigeria (CUPP) on 21st Nov 2022 held a conference in Abuja and exposed additional millions of undeleted underage children, illegal migrants and fake or fictitious identities in the Voters List of at least 22 States. While the list of minors and illegal migrants was concentrated in core Northern Muslim States, the list involving fictitious names and stolen was glaringly evident in both Northern and Southern States. The above has also rubbished several claims by Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu and INEC’s National Commissioner for Voter Education, Festus Okoye Esquire that “INEC has deleted all names of ineligible registrants and voters from the Voters’ List”. On the contrary, not only that millions of underage children, illegal migrants and fake identities still pollute the National Register of Voters, but also INEC has gone to the extent of deleting millions of genuinely registered voters, using flimsy grounds to authenticate its despicable action while turning blind eyes and allowing to remain in the Voters’ Register as “voters” no fewer than 20m underage children, illegal migrants, fake names and stolen identities.
Intersociety is recalling a documentary that widely trended on social media in July 2022 and afterwards strongly alleging ‘evil plots’ by present federal authorities in Nigeria and their ruling party as well as selected agencies and parastatals of the Federal Government of Nigeria and Govs in charge of the APC controlled States, in full collusion with INEC, to massively and scientifically manipulate (digital poll rigging) the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election; to be executed with whopping $11b or its then naira equivalent of N6.5trillion, to be sourced and distributed to targeted millions of registered PVC holders/voters through phony charities and names. The widely social media trended documentary was tagged: “2023 Presidential Election Evil Plans of APC”. Today, the digital election rigging plot has not only turned out to be real but also entered implementation stage. This is to the extent that the leadership of CUPP had in its press conference of 21st Nov 2022 monitored live by the Arise TV, announced fresh discovery of “Wire-Wire Digital Vote Rigging” plot in which over 10m bank accounts and their owners’ PVC details have been harvested for digital rigging of the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. The unmasked plot has been hatched in at least 22 States with different phony charity names-whereby the over 10m harvested bank account and PVC owners will receive specified amount of money through bank transfer in return for surrendering their PVC details for lifeless digital voting in Feb 2023 Poll-whereby their biometric voting details will be uploaded or manipulatively added to INEC voting and result records on the Eve of Election Day or on the Presidential Election Day as “having been successfully voted” and “lawfully or validly cast votes” for the Commission’s anointed presidential candidate. For more details of the CUPP’s press conference, view the Arise TV news clip here: https://youtu.be/SU-bxcpR_6Q. The CUPP’s allegation was confirmed on Monday, 12th Dec 2022 by the INEC’s National Commissioner for FCT, Plateau, Nasarawa and Kaduna State, Mohammed Haruna; alleging that “some politicians have been buying up Permanent Voters’ Cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their Voters Identification Numbers ahead of the 2023 general elections”.
INEC Destroyed 18.2m Genuine Registrations And Replaced Them With 20m Fake Identities
It has almost become an act of impossibility for Nigeria’s INEC to significantly clean up the National Register of Voters especially by meaningfully deleting or purging same of not less than 20m fake and ineligible identities including estimated 8m underage children, 2m illegal migrants, 4m fake names and 6m stolen identities. This is shockingly to the extent that the Commission turned blind eyes on them and concentrated on ensuring massive destruction of no fewer than 18.2m genuine registrations, using one flimsy excuse or the other. It was further discovered that INEC has perfidiously been misleading and lying to Nigerians over its touted digital cleaning of ineligible names in the Voters’ List. This, the Commission has done and is still doing by claiming to have “deleted most of the ineligible names including underage voters, illegal migrants and fake names from the National Register of Voters using ABIS and other ineligible names’ detecting technologies”. Contrarily, the recent display of the Voters’ List has made far-reaching expositions showing that 99% of the ineligible identities flooding the Voters’ List have remained untouched and undeleted. As it stands, INEC is grossly incapable of cleaning the Voters List and over 20m ineligible identities contained therein. From Intersociety’s investigative point of view, the 20m ineligible names are most likely to have come to stay and the Commission is bent on using them for digital and demographic rigging of the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll.
99% Of 29.5m Registered Voters Yet To Be Given PVCs Just Two Months To Feb 2023 Poll
By Intersociety’s fresh findings, no fewer than 99% of the 29.5m registered Nigerian voters without Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) are at high risk of being shut out and massively disenfranchised from participating and voting in the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. This is owing to deliberate failure of INEC to issue them with PVCs just two months or 60 days to the crucial Presidential Poll of 25th Feb 2023. Going by our country-wide recent checks, the most affected are non Muslim registered voters in the North including resident Easterners and non Muslim registered voters in Southern Nigeria. Our fresh findings also showed that Northern Muslim registered voters are so maximally enfranchised and given PVCs that INEC resorted to inclusion of their underage children of 6 years to 14 years and millions of illegal migrants. The worst of it all is that many of the INEC’s registered illegal migrants were issued with PVCs across the borders and boundary hamlets including in Southern Niger Republic.
Those enfranchised and issued with PVCs in Northern Muslim parts of Nigeria include the blind, the cripple, the mediocre and so on; whereas in the South and among non Muslim others, out of every five unregistered citizens of voting age, three were not registered and out of every five registered, three have not been issued with PVCs. Among Northern Muslims and rest of them across the country, out of every five registered, 4.5 have received their PVCs. In Kebbi State, for instance, out of the State’s 2.76,000 registered voters, 2.06,000 or 95% have received their PVCs with only 67,000 PVCs uncollected as at 30th Nov 2022. Therefore, it saddens our heart that the 99% PVC denial to 29.5m registered non PVC holders in the country is done not only less than 3 months to the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll but also against the backdrop of INEC’s policy and operational inconsistencies, discrepancies and discriminations. It must be remembered that it was because of the same PVCs that INEC hid under to shut down the 2022 CVR on 31st July 2022; four months before the statutory deadline. INEC had not only hidden under same to disenfranchise whopping 77.7m citizens of voting age but also boasted severally that “all PVCs must be ready for distribution in Nov 2022”; yet Nov 2022 had come and gone and the 9.5m new PVCs remained unready and 99% of the 29.5m registered voters have remained without PVCs.
Buhari ‘Scored’ 7.6m Of 10.2m Criminal Manual Votes In 12 Rigging Nigerian States In 2015
The 7,645.798 of 10,184,720 criminal manual votes credited to Muhammad Buhari of APC by INEC in the March 2015 Presidential Election were found to have come from manual voting in 12 major poll rigging Nigerian States of Kano (1.35m manual votes), Katsina (1.05m manual votes), Kaduna (800.112 manual votes), Jigawa (744,112 manual votes), Bauchi (627,048 manual votes), Sokoto (588,730 manual votes), Zamfara (578,730 manual votes), Kebbi (496,565 manual votes), Niger (492,870 manual votes), Borno (317,933 manual votes), Yobe (302,965 manual votes) and Adamawa (296,733 manual votes). Buhari was credited with 10,184,720 from total of 13,536,311 outlawed votes recorded while Jonathan of PDP got only 3,351.591. Out of the Buhari’s 10,184.720 manual votes from 19 Northern States and FCT, 7,645.798 were recorded in 12 major poll rigging Northern States alone. It is also important to point out that out of ‘15,191.847 votes’ credited to Buhari in the 2015 Presidential Poll, only 5.2m votes came from INEC biometric voting. For instance, the 1,35m manual votes credited to Buhari and his APC in Kano State was out of total of 1,903,000 vote scores comprising 1,35m manual votes and 553,000 votes derived from biometric voter accreditation using INEC Smart Card Reader. In Kastina State, the 1.05m manual votes credited to Buhari and his APC was out of total of 1,35m votes comprising 350,000 votes from biometric voter accreditation using INEC Smart Card Reader and 1.05m votes from unlawful manual voting. Retired Major Gen Muhammad Buhari of APC had in the March 2015 Presidential Election scored, according to INEC, 15,191,847 votes to beat Dr Goodluck Jonathan of PDP who scored 12,833,162.
The above data and its analysis was disclosed by DeepDive Intelligence and published by the Cable on Dec 8, 2018. The sources also quoted INEC’s official statistics as their sources, adding that the manual voting in the 10 Northern States including Plateau State was done by bypassing biometric voter accreditation using INEC Smart Card Reader (now BVAS/IReV machines). It must be remembered that the INEC Smart Card Reader was legalized and introduced into Nigeria’s electoral process and first used in the General Elections of 2015. The Cable and the DeepDive Intelligence had expertly informed that “INEC Smart Card Reader is a portable electronic voting authentication device configured to read only the PVCs issued by INEC and designed for accreditation process including authentication of eligible voters before voting”. The two sources also noted that “when a voter’s fingerprint is not identified by INEC’s Smart Card Reader (now BVAS/IReV devices), it means one of the three below: (a) that the voter is not a human being, (b) that the voter is not the authentic owner of the PVC he/she is presenting or (c) there is a calibration error with INEC’s PVC system.
Repeated In 2019 And Programmed For Widespread Repeat In 2023 Presidential Poll
It was further found that the 10,184,720 unlawful manual votes credited to Buhari and his APC in the 2015 Presidential Poll mostly from the 12 Muslim States included combination of millions of unlawful manual votes from unregistered, migrants and under-age voters and stolen identities. This was widely repeated across the affected States and other Muslim Northern States in 2019 Presidential Poll and programmed for widespread repeat in the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election in at least 24 States including Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa and Gombe. The criminal and illegal practice by INEC has been notoriously the case in the named 12 core Northern Muslim States and rest of others especially those Muslim and APC States. Contrary was widely the case and is going to be widely the case in Christian dominant South and non Muslim parts of the North where the strict application of INEC Smart Card Reader was the case in 2015 and 2019 and will rigidly be the case in the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll under IReV and BVAS voter accreditation and voting technologies; in addition to application of other bureaucratic hitches targeted at massive disenfranchisement of tens of millions of non Muslim Southern and Northern PVC holders at poll.
12 Major Poll Rigging Northern Nigerian States To Watch In 2023 Presidential Poll
Detailed investigationand findings made by Intersociety have exposed and identified 12 Nigerian States as major poll rigging States to watch in the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll. The affected 12 Nigerian States include seven North-West States of Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Jigawa, Kebbi and Kaduna; four North-East States of Borno, Bauchi, Yobe and Adamawa; and one North-Central State of Niger. The 12 major Poll Rigging Nigerian States also have a total of 33,86m registered voters with 95% PVC collection on average. The 12 States also have 35% of the country’s total of 93.5m registered voters and host the largest concentration of registered underage and illegal migrants as well as imported criminal thumb-printers of ballot papers. Apart from being no-go areas especially during Presidential Polls, the 12 States are also the most boundary/border area porous States in Nigeria where ‘anything goes’ or ‘anything can happen’ during polls particularly during the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. They are specifically notorious for massive rigging coordinated by INEC including mass thumb-printing of ballot papers before or during Presidential Elections in restricted and prohibited places. In 2015 Presidential Poll, 7,645,798 votes of the 10.2m criminal manual votes credited to Buhari of APC came from the 12 States with 2,348.656 others coming from Northern States of Nasarawa, Kwara, Gombe, Taraba, Plateau, Benue and Kogi and FCT (Federal Capital Territory), Abuja. Only 190,266 of the manual votes credited to Buhari came from Southern States. Such manual votes derived from outside biometric voter accreditation are unlawfully authorized by INEC as “lawful or validly cast votes”.
The territorial and border porosity of the named 12 Northern States and their politico-religious radicalization have made them vulnerable for massive presidential poll rigging since 2015’ expected to be widely or massively repeated in the 25th Feb 2022 Presidential Poll. 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 had stated the above in Lagos on Friday, 30th Sept 2022 while delivering a lecture on “Security, Defense and Development in Nigeria”.
According to Nigeria’s Premium Times of Thursday, 29th Sept 2022, “the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, on Wednesday, 28th Sept 2022 announced the interception of several migrants coming into Nigeria through northern borders with Permanent Voters’ Cards (issued to them by INEC) to participate and vote in the (Presidential segment) of the Nigeria’s 2023 General Elections”. This was made known to the media by the Comptroller-General of the NIS, Isah Idris at a meeting with top management staff of NIS including zonal coordinators and comptrollers of commands and formations in Abuja. Just recently (on 20th Oct 2022), the Nigerian Defense Headquarters announced in Abuja the arrest of some officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in IDP Camp in Gadamari in Niger Republic, registering foreigners from neighboring countries and enrolling them as “Nigerians” with laminating machines, printing machines, National Identity Number registration machines, computer tracking machines, etc. In Kano State, a Ward Chairman of the ruling party-APC (Alhaji Aminu Ali Shana) was arrested on 14th Oct 2022 by Police with 367 PVCs. A Chadian national was recently intercepted with PVC and interviewed and he said he is 20 years and had voted trice (in 2015 and 2019 Presidential polls and a governorship poll) in Nigerian Elections). These instances are just to mention but a few. The named 12 Northern Nigerian States are where INEC had since 2015 Presidential Poll collapsed statutory processes and procedures guiding the conduct of presidential poll including voters’ registration, distribution of permanent voters’ cards, verification and accreditation of registered voters with permanent voters’ cards and casting of vote and collation, transmission and announcement of the election results. These, INEC had failed woefully to strictly adhere to in the 2015 and 2019 Presidential Elections. Instead, the Commission allowed millions of registered minors, ghost names, stolen identities, and illegal migrants from Chad, Niger Republic, Muslim Cameroon and other African countries as well as unregistered Northern citizens to participate and vote in presidential elections by bypassing voting and result reviewing biometrics (.i.e. BVAS, IReV and PVCs) and allowing manual voting including massive thumb-printing of ballot papers before or during such polls in religiously restricted places or compromised quarters.
History Of Registration Of Minors And Corruption Of Electronic Voting By INEC
Having monitored and investigated several electoral processes in Nigeria or any part thereof since 2010 including voters’ registration, revalidation and issuance and distribution of PVCs and Election Day accreditation and voting, Intersociety had made several findings exposing how INEC in collusion with desperate political actors and radical religious and ward leaders especially in Muslim held areas of Northern Nigeria engaged in periodic registration of millions of minors or underage children and illegal migrants as “registered voters issued with PVCs in Nigeria”. This, the Commission had severally executed during Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) exercises conducted in the electoral processes of 2014/2015, 2018/2019 and 2021/2022. Apart from capturing millions of minors and illegal migrants as “registered voters” and arming them with PVCs, the Commission had also in full collusion with others re-introduced captured or registered millions of fake or fictitious names and flooded them in the Voters’ List. The Commission had in 2015 (insignificant number and use) and 2018/2019 (large scale number and use) introduced use of millions of stolen identities or stolen and diverted PVCs as “validated lifeless voters” and have them uploaded on its servers on key national Election Day as “validly or lawfully cast votes”. Totality of the above INEC had continuously perpetrated in grave contravention of Section 12 of Nigeria’s Electoral Act of 2010 (amended in 2022) which prohibits registration of minors, illegal migrants, fake and ineligible identities as “registered voters in Nigeria”
To protect the illegal and criminal exercise, registration centers’ environments especially in Muslim held areas of the North were made hostile and life-threatening for deployed INEC ad hoc staffers and their supervising personnel. There were also indiscriminate use of language barriers and whipping up of religious sentiments and mobilization of Muslim youths and fanatics; readying them at slightest or no provocation or argument to spill bloods including unleashing mayhem on deployed INEC ad hoc staffers especially those who are of non Muslim backgrounds. Totality of these had given room for widespread registration of Muslim minors and illegal migrants as “voters in Nigeria” during which minors as tender as seven to nine years and above but not exceeding 16 years had been captured and registered in their millions in Muslim States as “registered voters”. This is also to the extent that minors in the seven-eight years age bracket captured by INEC as “registered voters” in 2014/2015 and 2018/2019 are still not statutorily qualified to vote in Nigeria in 2023 having not attained 18 years of voting age.
In other words, there are still millions of minors registered since 2014/2015 and 2018/2019 who have not attained 18 years of age to vote in Nigeria polluting the National Register of Voters. These have also been the case on Election Day in the country leading to widespread abandonment of use of electronic devices and reversion to manual voting and authentication of same by INEC; protected using group violence or threat of same by Muslim fanatics and compromised security forces. The chief motive of INEC in this criminal exercise is to fictitiously increase voting population and numerical strength of Muslim held areas against their non Muslim counterparts for purpose of rigging in its favored presidential candidate and rigging out the popular one to be voted by majority of Nigerian registered voters with PVCs.
Ethno-Religious Voters’ Accreditation/Voting By INEC During Presidential Elections
Nigeria’s INEC has earned notoriety in double standards and policies since 2015 which became more exposed in the Feb 2019 Presidential Election. The saddest part of it all is that the discriminatory practices of the Commission are dotted with ethnic and religious coloration and have seriously affected the Commission’s deployment and use of voters’ accreditation, capturing, voting and result viewing technologies called “Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS)” and “Voters’ Enrolment Device (IReV)”. Apart from their discriminatory deployment and use with strict enforcement in the Christian held areas of the North and the South and their loose enforcement in non Christian held areas, there are also strong suspicions that they are technically manipulated on religious and ethnic grounds.
As a matter of field investigation and fact, they are strongly alleged to have been designed for massive failure in Christian areas leading to Election Day technical disenfranchisement of millions of Christian voters at voting units. It is further strongly alleged that their deployment and use are mandatorily enforced to the letter in the South especially South-East, South-South and non natives’ held South-West areas as well as Northern Christian areas; whereas contrary is the case in Muslim held areas especially in the North. In other words, once there is any failure of voters’ accreditation and voting machines in Muslim areas, it is most likely to be promptly substituted with manual accreditation and voting protected using religious fanatics and compromised security forces. These have been the case during two recent past presidential polls of 2015 and 2019 in the Northern Muslim held areas including Kano, Katsina, Borno, Yobe, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Gombe States as well as Christian held Plateau State (in 2015).
One Voter Registered In South-East Out of Every Five And Four In The North Out Of Five
It has been found from our different field checks across the country’s six geopolitical regions of Nigeria during the 2021/2022 Continuous Voters’ Registration that “in the Southeast, out of every five citizens of voting age seeking to be registered as voters at INEC’s registration center, only one person was registered; in the South-South, out of every five, only two were captured; in the South-West, out of every five in the native held areas, at least three were captured and in its non natives’ held areas (i.e. Igbo populated areas), out of every five, one was captured. In the native Muslim held areas of the North; out of every five, four were captured; in the non Muslim natives’ held areas, out of every five, two were captured; and in the non native/non Muslim held areas of the North including the FCT, out of every five, one was captured or registered. From random interviews conducted by Intersociety in several quarters especially in South-East and some non native quarters of the North and the South-West, it was found that millions of citizens of voting age seeking to be registered became frustrated and went back home after visiting registration centers several times and frustrated by discrimination and other bureaucratic hitches created by INEC including inadequacy of registration personnel and machines and extortion. Millions of others who visited INEC’s registration centers several times for updating or transfer or revalidation of their voters’ cards also left with disappointment and resolved to stay back home never to go back again.
In PVC Distributions Gone By, It Was 90% For Muslims And 50% For Non Muslims
Discrimination in voters’ registration and allied others and distribution and issuance of PVCs has been investigated and found to have been introduced in Nigeria with widespread effects in 2014/2015 under Prof Attahiru Jega as INEC Chairman and this has continued and gotten worse under Prof Mahmood Yakubu as current INEC Chairman. The discriminatory practice was done and is still being done on the grounds of ethnicity and religion. This is to the extent that in the past eight years or since 2014, members of Northern Muslim population including the aged and the physically challenged and persons of under-age as well as illegal aliens sharing same language and culture (i.e. Hausa/Arabic and Islamic culture) have been favored in voters’ registration and PVC distribution far ahead of their non Muslim counterparts.
The disparity in voters’ registration and PVC distribution presently hovers around 90% (for Muslims) and 50% (for non Muslim) ratios. Members of the Northern Muslim population have become the highest recipients of PVCs distributed by INEC through proxy distribution or use of religious, district and family heads; as against rigid and stressful PVC distribution methods applied by the Commission in the South and Northern Christian areas. The rigid PVC distribution and collection methods applied by INEC and enforced majorly in the South-South and the South-East include armchair bureaucracy, physical presence collection, inadequate staffing, PVC unavailability and extortion, etc. This pattern of PVC distribution and collection is also made difficult by restricting same to INEC Local Government offices only. Bashings and outcries received by INEC recently forced it to “promise to engage in next batch of PVC distribution through multiple options including use of text messages and phone calls to PVC owners”. Critics have doubted the sincerity of the Commission to the above promise.
More Facts On INEC’s Destruction Of 18.2m Of The 27.7m New Voters’ Registrations
According to findings by Intersociety done after its careful study of INEC’s officially released statistics including its updates on 2022 CVR, the Commission deliberately, mindlessly, hatefully and discriminatorily engaged in massive disenfranchisement of tens of millions of enthusiastic Nigerians that trouped to the registration centers to be registered ahead of the 2023 Presidential Election. The massive destruction of registrations done by the 18.2m citizens of voting age was found to have been perpetrated on the grounds of ethnicity and religion. The destroyed figure of 18.2m did not include those that logged unto INEC’s online voters’ registration portal but could not continue or conclude their registrations. This is to the extent that between January 2022 and 2nd June 2022, according to INEC’s official statistics, 19.1m applicants were received, out of which only 6.8m were ‘successfully registered’. INEC had earlier panicked and shut down its online voters’ registration portal on 31st May 2022 and never opened it till 31st July 2022 when it ended the CVR Exercise.
To make the matter worst, INEC turned around and claimed that the affected citizens were involved in “incomplete” and “multiple” registrations or “timed-out” in the physical biometric capturing exercise. INEC also hurriedly and unlawfully terminated the CVR on 31st July 2022; seven months before the Feb and March 2023 General Elections contrary to statutorily provided 90 days deadline. By this dastardly act of the Commission, tens of millions of citizens of voting age were disenfranchised and excluded from participating and voting in the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election including 7m-11m that completed their online voters’ registration by 90%, remaining only physical biometric capturing disenfranchised by the Commission. Therefore, what the sum total of the above means is that while tens of millions of Nigerian citizens of voting age worked hard under the rain and the sun and got registered by INEC, the Commission turned around and mindlessly destroyed their registrations, to the tune of 18.2m as at 14th October 2022. INEC had earlier threatened to disenfranchise millions more through “voters’ register cleanup”.
INEC’s Statistics Concerning The 18.2m Destroyed New Registrations
INEC had on Monday night of 12th Sept 2022 announced that “it had delisted from its central server a total of 1.126, 359 (roughly 48%) out of 2,523, 458 fresh registrants that registered between June 28, 2021 and January 14, 2022 for their involvement in multiple registrations”. In other words, out of over 2.5m new registrations recorded in less than seven months of 28th June 2021 and 14th January 2022, more than 1.12m or 48% were disenfranchised and delisted from INEC’s central server. Till date, no concrete reasons including remote and immediate cause(s) had been given by the Commission as to why such massive disenfranchisement occurred. It must be added that INEC’s statement on this was issued by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye Esquire. In January 2022 alone, according to media reports, “1.1m fresh registrants were invalidated and disenfranchised”. Between 1st Feb and 28th June 2022, according to This Day Newspaper of 28th June 2022, quoting official statistics of INEC, “only 8,631,696 of the 10,487,972 newly registered voters were successfully registered and 1,856, 276 invalidated and disenfranchised”. According to INEC statement of 1st August 2022, “7,043,594 newly registered voters who successfully completed their online pre-registration were invalidated (disenfranchised) on account of their failure to have their physical biometrics captured by INEC before CVR deadline of 31st July 2022” and the statement added that “out of 10,487, 972 successful online CVR registrants, only 3,444,378 were successfully captured in physical biometrics capturing and enfranchised”.
Further findings made by the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, a network of 80 CSOs, as reported by Punch Newspaper of 3rd August 2022, indicated that “11million citizens who completed their INEC online registration forms were shut out by the Commission from being captured biometrically and massively disenfranchised”. The Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room had spoken through Ene Obi and appeals made to the Commission to capture and enfranchise them fell on deaf ears till date. On Tuesday, 12th Oct 2022, INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu announced in far away United States that “INEC has deleted a total of 2.78m double registrations from the 2021/2022 new voters’ registration”. This was disclosed by INEC in an international democracy event organized by the National Endowment for Democracy, USA where he delivered a keynote speech.
Expert Analysis Of How 1.76m Registrants In The South Were Destroyed By INEC In The 2022 CVR
A data analyst, Mr. Chima Christian, has revealed how the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), may have disenfranchised the Nigerian southern region of almost 1.8 million potential votes during the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise held between June 2021 to July 2022 preparatory to the 2023 general elections. The worst hit states by voter registration invalidation include Bayelsa (69.2%), Ebonyi (59.8%), Ekiti (38.8%), Rivers (33.0%), Anambra (30.6%) and Delta (29.4%). According to statistics presented by Mr. Christian, there were a total of 12,298,944 total registrations during the 2022 CVR exercise. However, out of the 2,780,756 invalid registrations, the southern region bore the brunt of 1,769,321 invalidated registrations. Reacting to the sharp difference in the figures alternating between north and south regions, Christian noted that INEC may have technically tampered with the choice of ordinary Nigerians courtesy of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise. In the attached infograph entitled “Analysis of voter registration data” Christian observed that the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted a nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise from 28th June, 2021, to 31st July, 2022, preparatory to the 2023 general elections. In the analysis and key findings of the voter registration data released by INEC, North West had 2,514,273 total registrations, with only 393,603 invalid registrations at only 15.7%, a record 2,120,670 valid registrations, and a grand total of 22.1 million eligible voters. Next on the list is South West with 2,039,982 total registrations, with only 399,608 invalid registrations at just 19.6%, 1,640,374 valid registrations, and a grand total of 17.5 million eligible voters.
North Central had 2,314,368 total registrations, with only 345,324 invalid registrations at a paltry 14.9%, a record 1,969,044 valid registrations, a total of 15 million eligible voters. The South South region surprisingly had the second highest total registrations at 2,458,095. That figure, however, was dealt a brutal blow with a whopping 859,165 chunked off the valid register at 35.0 %(!); leaving a total of 1,598,930 valid registrations, and a grand total of 14.2 million eligible voters. North East, with its 1,531,070 total registrations, had only 272,508 registrations invalidated at 17.8%. It then had 1,258,562 valid registrations, and a total 12.5 million eligible voters. Christian Chukwuma made the following key findings: At 49.3%, the South-east and South-south combined account for nearly half of all rejected registrations. Other regions had an average rejection rate of 17% whereas the Southeast and South-south had an average rejection rate of 35.2%. South-east completed the least number of registrations yet had the highest percent of rejected registrations. At 1.5 million and 1.4 million completed registrations respectively, the North East (NE) and South East (SE) had a registration difference of about 100 thousand. By the time the data went through the knife, SE was left with 930,000 additional voters while NE was left with 1.3 million. SE thus became the only region with a marginal increase of less than one million voters. Same scenario played out when South South numbers are compared to that of the North Central or North West. States most affected by voter invalidation are disproportionately in the southern regions while the least affected states are in the northern regions. INEC did not provide clear invalidation guidelines nor explanations for the “coincidence.
Class Suit Against INEC By Over 7m Disenfranchised New Registrants/600 Other Litigations
Poor and criminal preparations by INEC towards the 2023 General Polls have attracted over 600 court cases filed by aspirants, candidates and disenfranchised citizens. Over 7m new registrants recently disenfranchised by INEC have also dragged the Commission before an Abuja Division of the Federal Court, seeking to be allowed to complete their registration by way of physical biometric capturing; and enfranchised and issued with PVCs to enable them vote in the 2023 General Elections especially the Presidential Poll. It will be recalled that INEC had days after its abrupt closure of the 2021/2022 CVR exercise on 31st July 2022 announced the exclusion of over 7m new registrants-the number the Civil Society Election Situation Room (with over 80 CSOs) put at 11m, from the list of newly registered voters which the Commission presently puts at 9.5m. The over 7m disenfranchised Nigerian citizens of voting age are those that successfully registered as voters through INEC’s dedicated online registration portal, remaining to be physically captured biometrically, but were disenfranchised and excluded by the Commission from participation and voting in the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll over “incomplete registrations”.
Their disenfranchisement was announced by the Commission on 2nd August 2022 or 90 days ahead before the statutory 90 days deadline for voters’ registration and despite public outcries and appeals for them to be fully captured and enfranchised, the Commission remained adamant and defiant till date. In a Class/Representative suit filed by 24 of the over 7m disenfranchised citizens of voting age on behalf of over 7m others, the Plaintiffs sought an order of mandamus “directing and compelling INEC to reactivate its Continuous Voters’ Registration exercise to allow them complete their registration and collect their PVCs”. The suit: FHC/ABJ/CS/1662/2022 was filed on Friday, 16th Sept 2022 by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). The 24 suing Plaintiffs have involved Citizens Adedotun Babatunde, Emmanuel Tochukwu, Emmanuel Ternajev, Joy Ige, Lawrence Ignatius, Agbede Kunle, Eze Ndubusi, Nkemdilim Bassey, Omoike Oseine, Joshua Ogenekaro, Wisdom Emeka, Ukpe Destiny, Abayomi Opeoluwa, Ndubuisi Ananihu, Akande Akintunde O and Adamma Rhodes. According to a Report released by INEC, “out of 10,487,972 Nigerians who carried out their pre-registration online, only 3,444,378 Nigerians representing 32.8%, completed the process at a physical center while 7,043,594 Nigerians did not complete the process at a physical center”.
7m-11m Disenfranchised “Incomplete Registrants” As Another Rigging Plot
While INEC has continued to live in denial and recalcitrance, fears are strongly spreading indicating that the 7m-11m disenfranchised “incomplete registrants” can become another rigging plot by the Commission. Emerging facts have continued to rubbish INEC’s indefensible defenses over its culpability in disenfranchising tens of millions of Nigerian citizens of voting age numbering 77.7m while turning around to enfranchise 15m illegal and ineligible persons and ghost names including estimated 8m illegal migrants and minors, 2m fake names and 5m stolen identities or stolen PVCs; all flooded in the National Register of Voters as “registered voters in Nigeria”. Strong and informed fears also abound indicating that INEC may likely temper with the 7m-11m “incomplete registrants” by using their photos or supplied data; or both; impersonating them using fake names or photos and adding them to the long list of two million ghost names recently found to have been smuggled by criminal officials of INEC into the country’s National Register of Voters. A typical case in point was the outcry by scores of the disenfranchised “incomplete registrants” whereby “their passport photographs or data submitted during the online CVR exercise to INEC were recently located in INEC’s severs outside their registration locations bearing names or photos other than theirs.
Shocking Testimonies Of Miss Adesina Paul Monijesu And Miss Aderoba Joy Temitope
Miss Adesina Paul Monijesu, a 20 years old female undergraduate and Miss Aderoba Joy Temitope (in her early 20s) are “incomplete registrants” who processed their online registrations in Ibadan, Oyo State back in June 2022 and their online registrations were successfully done, remaining physical biometric capturing at physical registration center. Shockingly, their submitted personal data including full names and dates of birth were later assigned by INEC to pictures of unknown males in far away Imo State as “registered male voters in Imo State”. Miss Adesina Paul Monijesu particularly pointed out that she was shocked to see her data submitted to INEC exchanged with an unknown man’s photograph in far away Imo State. The above discovery was made two days after a Press Conference in Abuja by the leadership of Coalition of the United Political Parties (CUPP) which busted the flooding of the National Register of Voters by INEC with millions of ghost names sourced from burial posters, brochures, photo studios and names from African and non African countries, etc, as “registered voters in Nigeria”. Miss Adesina Paul Monijesu gave her own account when she featured on Njenje Int’l Media Friday Hangout aired on 16th Sept 2022 in London, UK. The two victims (Monijesu and Joy Temitope) had on 16th Sept 2022 filed a petition before the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, strongly protesting the “Breach of Data Privacy and Attempted Unlawful Exploitation of Personal Details”. The Petition was filed on their behalf by the Law Firm of WABARA and WABARA, based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Nigerian Courts Declared As Unlawful INEC’s Disenfranchisement Of Millions Of Voters
Two Nigerian Courts of Superior Records have declared as unlawful and unconstitutional the disenfranchisement of millions of Nigerian citizens of voting age by INEC during the 2022 Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR). The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja and presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo had on 22nd Nov 2022 declared as ‘unconstitutional and unlawful’ the abrupt termination of the CVR exercise by INEC on 31st July 2022, four months before the statutory deadline of 90 days to the 2023 General Elections. The Court in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1343/2022 (salmat Anajat and three others v INEC) also directed INEC to ‘ensure that eligible Nigerians are not deprived the opportunity to have their voters’ cards for the forthcoming polls and held that ‘it is the constitutional responsibility of INEC to make adequate provision for the CVR exercise in accordance with the Nigerian laws’. In another judgment of 26th Nov 2022, the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo in suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/1335/2022, filed by a frontline constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome and Abubakar Damisa, the Judge also declared the INEC’s decision to terminate the CVR on 31st July 2022, instead of 25th Nov 2022 as “unlawful and unconstitutional” act that disenfranchised millions of Nigerians of voting age.
Three Types Of Massive Disenfranchisement And Dilemma Of Millions Denied PVCs
Thorough checks by Intersociety have identified three types of mass disenfranchisement that marred INEC’s 2021/2022 CVR. They are (1) “disenfranchisement by INEC targeting disenfranchised voting citizens’ ethnicity and religion-with 70% representation”; (2) “disenfranchisement resulting from some citizens’ engagement in multiple registrations (.i.e. whereby citizens who previously registered before and got PVCs, offered themselves for fresh registrations for malicious or criminal intents)-with 20% representation”; and (3) “disenfranchisement caused by frustrations(.i.e. whereby citizens, denied PVCs since 2019 got frustrated and sought to be freshly registered by INEC, having waited in vain for years without PVCs especially when their PVCs have been disappeared from INEC custody or destroyed or secretly sold to criminal politicians for digital poll rigging)-with 10% representation”. In all, INEC accounted for 90% of citizens’ disenfranchisement in Nigeria during the 2021/2022 CVR.
Political Pressure Group Uncovered 10m Ghost Names As “Registered Voters” In 22 States
Nigeria’s Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), said it uncovered fresh flooding of INEC’s National Register of Voters with estimated 10m ghost names as “registered voters” in 22 States with Imo State having the highest number. The fresh discovery of this major rigging plot ahead of the country’s crucial Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll was publicly made known on Wednesday, 14th Sept 2022 in a world press conference held in Abuja by CUPP’s Spokesperson, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and other officials of the political pressure group. The discovery had followed gathering of credible intelligence by the CUPP’s intelligence team showing 10m fake names as “registered voters” in 22 States mostly controlled by the central ruling political party (APC). The major rigging plot was also found to have been majorly perpetrated by corrupt INEC officials in collusion with desperate ruling party officials or political actors. The rigging plot was perpetrated by INEC and APC officials by lifting and uploading fake names and passport photos of unknown persons from brochures, burial posters, calendars and photo studios and have same flooded in the current National Register of Voters as “current registered voters”. The 10m registered fake voters scattered in 22 States are criminally programmed to be uploaded on Election Day as “pre-accredited voters/validly cast votes”. Noted also was the fact that the execution of the major rigging plot does not require issuance of PVCs but to have the 10m fake voters or substantial part of them uploaded on INEC’s central server on Election Day and validated by the Commission as ‘validly cast votes’. In Imo State, used as a case study, the number of registered voters in an electoral ward located in Omuma Community in Oru East Local Government Area, the hometown of the Governor of the State (Hope Uzodinma) was magically falsified from 6,000 to 46,000.
The 10m fake names, according to the leadership of CUPP, were sourced from forged and unknown names obtained from within and outside the country which included Ghana, Cameroon, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Togo, Guinea, Gambia and beyond Africa countries of Jamaica, Brazil, New Zealand, etc. The CUPP leadership had at its Abuja press conference displayed extracts of the 2022 National Register of Voters from different States especially Imo State where the latest rigging plot was hatched and perpetrated. Significant among the discoveries was the fact that majority of the foreign names included were all born in 1983 despite whether their photographs showed they were old or young. Many were also shown to have been born between 1900 and 1914 yet their photographs were those of young people. Many other male photos had their gender written as female and vice versa. Photos of unknown persons and non humans bearing human names were also found in the evaluated extracts.
Similar Discoveries Made In Anambra in 2009
It is worth remembering that similar discoveries were made by Intersociety in Anambra State in 2009. Following alarms raised by concerned political actors ahead of the State’s Governorship Election later held on 6th Feb 2010, Intersociety took a study and evaluation of the State version of the National Register of Voters and shockingly discovered that ‘out of over 1.8m registered voters credited to the State by INEC, only about 600,000 were legitimate and active voters with 1.2m others bearing fake, dead and other fictitious names including non living objects like human skulls, windows, doors, blank spaces, planks as well as foreign names, dead citizens, forged names from passport photos and photo studios and names of non Anambra citizens residing outside the State but registered as “voters” of Anambra residency. For instance, there were photos of Late Gani Fawehimni, Wole Soyinka, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Walter Sisulu, etc bearing different names and registered as “voters” in Ukpor, Ebe-na-Ato and Ekwulummili communities, all in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Intersociety and other CSOs later dragged INEC before the Awka Division of the Federal High Court, insisting on “one physical-person-one-vote” which prevailed in the end. That was why Anambra State recorded the lowest number of total live votes cast in the Feb 6, 2010 Governorship Poll with slightly over 300,000 out of estimated 600,000 legitimately and actively registered voters. It must be remembered and pointed out that the first time the National Register of Voters was polluted with ghost names in tens of millions in Nigeria was in 2006-2009, prior to 2011 General Elections under Prof Mauris Iwu as INEC Chairman. Like the latest discoveries, many names were also shown to have been born between 1900 and 1914 yet their photographs were those of young people. Many other male photos had their gender written as female and vice versa. Photos of unknown persons and non humans bearing human names were also found in their millions in the 2006-2009 National Register of Voters.
INEC’s Reaction And White Lies Told Over Millions Of Ghost Names In The Voters’ Register
The INEC reacted to the above on 15th Sept 2022 and said nothing other than white lies and admission of culpability. The Commission’s National Commissioner for Information and Chairman, Voters’ Education, Festus Okoye Esquire, had reacted and said that “INEC is conducting a comprehensive Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup of the registration data by scrutinizing every record, after which the Commission shall appoint a period of seven days during which the register will be published for scrutiny by the public for objections and complaints”. He said that the Commission’s reaction had arisen after its Board had met. The Commission also falsely claimed that “no new names have been added to the National Register of Voters since the commencement and end of the 2021/2022 CVR exercise”; but admitted “invalidating (cleaning) 3,316 ineligible registrants so far in Gov Hope Uzodinma’s Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State”. The white lies told by INEC above have since been rubbished by recent testimonies of Miss Adesina Paul Monijesu and Miss Joy Temitope who are victims of INEC’s “incomplete registrations”. The Commission had also in its indefensible defense failed to publicly disclose how millions of such ghost names it sourced from within and outside the country were smuggled into the National Register of Voters as “registered voters in Nigeria” whereas there are whopping 77.7m truly Nigerians of voting age disenfranchised by the Commission by not being registered and given PVCs; thereby disallowing them from participating and voting in the all-important Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll of the 2023 General Elections. INEC later in November 2022 somersaulted and admitted responsibility over the above; saying “it has identified 23 of its officials involved for punishment”. The Commission still failed to publicly disclose how millions of such smuggled fake names found their way in the National Register of Voters and fate of such names ahead of the 25th Feb 2022 Presidential Poll.
Where We Agreed And Disagreed With CUPP
The latest discoveries by the leadership of CUPP are very commendable; however, totally unacceptable are attempts to exonerate the top leadership of INEC headed by Prof Mahmood Yakubu. Intersociety makes bold to say that not only that the leadership of the Commission is directly and vicariously liable or culpable but also the entire management of the Commission including the Chairman and all serving National and State Resident Electoral Commissioners should have resigned from their seats, positions and duties. The level of their culpability in the litany of electoral illegalities is inescapable. The CUPP also clearly contradicted itself especially going by shocking findings made by the respected political pressure group. Having thoroughly gone through the laws of the country especially those governing Nigeria’s electoral process, we could not find and still cannot find where a politician is legally empowered to smuggle fake names or stolen identities or underage children or migrants into INEC register or server as “registered voters” without full involvement of INEC adhoc and substantive staffers including members of its top management.
The CUPP’s commendation of INEC top management especially the Commission’s Chairman for “deleting 2.78m ineligible names from the Voters’ List” is groundless, logically incoherent and selfishly protective. This is owing to the fact that the deletion was highly controversial and questionable; more so when the CUPP leadership seemed not to border to ascertain the bio, ethnic and religious identities of the deleted ‘2.78m’, especially against the backdrop of the fact that the Commission embarked on another round of destruction of millions of freshly registered genuine citizens of voting age, turning blind eyes on millions of underage children, migrants and fake names polluting the National Register of Voters. Several independent analysts have found that greater part of the deletion was concentrated in the South particularly South-East and South-South, leaving the North with paltry percent of the deletion. Totality of these explains why even in the CUPP’s latest findings, not only that the millions of underage children and fake names uncovered in its 14th Sept 2022 exposure have remained undeleted but also more numbers have been added.
Undemocratic Litigations And Abuses Of Court Process Threaten 2023 Presidential Poll
One of the major rigging plots under the present INEC is likelihood of incessancy of undemocratic litigations and abuses of court process to manipulate and undermine the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria. The leadership of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) had at its Wednesday, 14th Sept 2022 press conference displayed extracts of ongoing two court processes instituted at Owerri Division of the Federal High Court, with one of them praying the Court to restrain INEC from using electronic voter accreditation and voting machines and their procedures or processes and the other seeking for the “suspension of Chairman of INEC from office”. The first suit had specifically sought a restraining order against INEC “from deploying Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) or any similar device, equipment or instrument or gadget for purpose of accreditation of voters and electronically transmitting, feeding or collating the results of 2023 General Elections”. The suit was instituted through Suit No: FHC/OW/C9/144/2022 against INEC and its Chairman by one Nwankwere Morale Chinwen, a possibly brief holder for desperate and criminal political actors. Incessancy of undemocratic litigations and abuses of court process have been identified as one of the 50 rigging plots under INEC ahead of Nigeria’s Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election.
As it was the case in 1993 (per Late Justice Rosaline Ikpeme), such undemocratic litigations and abuses of court process concerning the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria may most likely include court orders restraining INEC from continuing with presidential election or announcing its results or declaring its winner, which was the case in the 1993 botched announcement of the presidential election results under Prof Humphrey Nwosu as Nigeria’s Electoral Commission Chairman. The poll results had seen Late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, presidential candidate of the SDP, cruising home to victory. The annulment of the results was responsible for scuttling the democratic process of 1993 leading to military takeover and six years of military rule. Therefore, it is most likely correct to say that unless extreme care and measures are taken by Nigeria’s democratic forces and critical international actors, otherwise a violent military takeover is likely to be one of the rigging plots hatched ahead of the 2023 General Elections especially the Presidential Poll.
INEC’s New Commissioners List Flooded With Card-Carrying Ruling Party Members
The credibility and integrity of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission have continued to fumble and wobble following the recent flooding of the INEC’s new Electoral Commissioners’ List with several card carrying members of the country’s central ruling party (All Progressives Congress) and persons of questionable character as nominees for post of Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs). The Buhari/Osinbajo headed Nigerian Presidency had on 26th July 2022 forwarded the list to the country’s Senate for consideration and confirmation of the nominees. The INEC’s list included 14 newly nominated Resident Electoral Commissioners and five reappointed others. The request for their senatorial confirmation comes ahead of the all-important 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election. This also followed final expiration of the tenure of 14 State Residential Commissioners and renewable expiration of five others. Critics and activists raised serious concerns over the inclusion of at least four card-carrying members of the central ruling party (APC) and persons of questionable character; a clear violation of paragraph 14 (2a) of the Third Schedule to Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and Section 2 of the INEC Act of 2004. The Constitutional Paragraph 14 (2a) had provided that: “a Resident Electoral Commissioner shall be non-partisan and a person of unquestionable integrity”. The dastardly act of the Presidency is also a clear breach of Section 154(3) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and other set down rules. This is by virtue of failure of the Presidency to consult the Council of State and subject the nominees to security verification before forwarding the list to the Senate.
The four card-carrying central ruling party members nominated as new Resident Electoral Commissioners are: Muhammad Lawal Bashir, a 2015 APC governorship aspirant in Sokoto State; Pauline Onyeka Ugochi, a former head of INEC’s ICT in Imo State who earned notoriety for corruption and conniving with politicians in undermining elections; Elizabeth Agwu, a former Accountant General of Ebonyi State who was suspended in 2016 on the grounds of corruption and incompetence; and Uchenna Sylvia Agu, a Enugu State nominee who is younger sister of the current APC National Deputy Chairman for South-East Region. The above was part of the findings by some Civil Society Organizations ‘working for the promotion of Democracy in Nigeria’ and was contained in their recent press conference addressed by the Director of Int’l Press Centre, Mr. Lanre Arogundade. The CSOs include: Yiaga Africa, the Kukah Centre, Int’l Press Center, Centre for Media and Society, the Albino Foundation, Elect Her, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Partners for Electoral Reforms and Inclusive Friends Association.
The integrity and neutrality of the rest of the nominees were also dotted with big question marks. Flooding the new list of INEC’s electoral commissioners with partisan and integrity challenged persons is not only a serious threat to the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election but also another grand rigging plot by the Commission and its co-travelers at Nigeria’s Presidency ahead of the all-important 2023 Presidential Election and this has rubbished what remains of the Commission’s independence and neutrality as well as integrity and credibility of the principal officers of the Commission. Apart from the four confirmed card-carrying members of the central ruling party (APC) and persons of questionable character, informed critics have also raised strong integrity and non-partisanship questions regarding the remaining eleven others. As a matter of fact, activist Lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has specifically demanded for withdrawal of the list of the 14 nominees by the Presidency from the Senate. Regrettably and sadly, the Nigerian Senate went ahead on 6th Oct 2022 and confirmed the 19 controversial nominees as “INEC RECs”, not minding torrential public outcries that followed.
27 Rigging Plots Executed By INEC During The CVR
- Ethno-Religious Shrinking Of Electoral Constituencies: The busted rigging plots by INEC ahead of its supervised national elections in Nigeria including the forthcoming 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election, started with shrinking of delineation of constituencies, registration and voting centers across the country targeted at particular ethno-religious group or groups on the grounds of their tribe or religion
- Provision Of Inadequate Manpower And Machines For CVR: The 2022 Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) was marred by provision of inadequate manpower and machines for registration and their deployment in non Muslim areas especially South-East and South-South
- Widespread Malfunctioning Of Registration Machines: There were widespread reports during the 2022 CVR of malfunctioning of voters’ registration machines targeted at a particular ethno-religious group/groups in the Northern and Southern areas.
- Manipulation Of registration Machines Using Computer Command Languages: During the 2022 CVR, there were widespread reports of discriminatory programming of registration machines using computer command languages or instructions (garbage in, garbage out) intended to massively disenfranchise members of a particular ethnic group/groups or religion
- Secret Registration Centers Outside Nigerian Borders: During the 2022 CVR, there were widespread reports of secret running or creation of registration and polling centers (flying registration/voting centers) beyond the borders of Nigeria (.i.e. Southern Niger Republic) for purpose of capturing aliens as registered voters/voters during elections in Nigeria so as to artificially out-populate other members of the legitimate population and manipulate the demographic and electoral figures
- Discriminatory Issuance Of PVCs: The 2022 CVR exercise (28th June 2021-31st July 2022) also widely exposed non-issuance or discriminatory issuance of PVCs to registered voters on the grounds of their ethnicity or religion. Majority, if not most of the affected voting population was found to be among the no fewer than 20m registered citizens denied PVCs or Permanent Voters’ Cards by INEC since Nigeria’s last Presidential Election in Feb 2019.
- Registration Of Minors And Aliens As Registered Voters: During the 2022 CVR exercise, there were widespread reports of registration by INEC of minors and aliens as voters with intent to roguishly and falsely out-populate other legitimate members of the general voting population and maintain false demographic numerical superiority of them over others
- Ethno-Religious Padding Of Voting Capacity Of Non-Christians To Depopulate Others: The 2022 CVR exercise was marred by official padding on continuous basis of the voting figures of particular ethno-religious members of the general voting population with intent to continuously out-populate others and rig the Feb 2023 Presidential Poll in favor of the appointing authorities or institutions or favored another.
- Sponsorship Of Group Violence To Scare Others Away From Being Registered: During the 2022 CVR exercise, there were widespread reports of organizing or sponsoring of group violence against other group/citizens seeking to be registered as voters so as to massively disenfranchise them on the grounds of their tribe and religion. These were widely reported in Lagos, Federal Capital Territory, Sokoto, Kano and other northern areas dominated by non natives during which members of Igbo Ethnic Nationality were majorly targeted. This was perpetrated by desperate politicians in collusion with compromised security forces.
- Application Of Ethnic And Religious Sentiments In Voter Registration: INEC was widely suspected during the 2022 CVR exercise to have applied ethnic and religious sentiments or policies in the handling of voters’ registration and distribution of permanent voters’ cards (2015-2019-2022) including over concentration of registration machines and manpower in ethnic and religious favored areas and shrinking of same in other disfavored areas
- Programming Of Registration Machines With Limitless Capacities In Muslim North: There were widespread reports during the 2022 CVR against INEC over its alleged secret programming of registration machines with limitless capturing capacities in the religious and ethnic favored areas (.i.e. Muslim held Northern Areas) and programming of the contrary with limited capacities (i.e. 500 registrants per machine) in disfavored areas (.i.e. Christian held Old Eastern and Mid Western Nigeria: Delta, Edo, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Rivers, Cross River and Bayelsa States)
- Massive Deployment Of Registration Machines/Personnel In The North: There were widespread reports during the 2022 CVR of massive deployment of registration machines and personnel in the favored areas (.i.e. Muslim held Northern areas) in addition to embarking on house-to-house voters’ registration in the Muslim held areas.
- Deployment Of Inadequate Registration Machines And Personnel In Non Muslim Areas: There was widespread deployment of inadequate machines and personnel in disfavored areas (.i.e. Christian held areas in the North and the South); forcing millions of citizens of voting age into long queues and their several repeat failed attempts to be registered leading to frustrations and self disenfranchisements
- 90%/50% CVR Ratio Between Muslims And Non Muslims: The 2021/2022 CVR witnessed 90% registration for Muslims including minors and illegal migrants as against 50% registration for non Muslims in the South and the North bloc regions of Nigeria
- Ulterior Motive Caused The Shutdown Of INEC Online Registration Portal: There was sudden and ulterior motive driven shutdown by INEC of its online voters’ registration portal on 31st May 2022, so as to deliberately and discriminatorily prevent high number of registrants from the South or among the computer literate youths and retain roguish high voters’ data for the North against the South; all perpetrated on ethno-religious grounds or sentiments
- Four-Point-Five Out Of Every Five Registered In Muslim North As Against One Out Of Five In South-East: During the 2022 CVR, approximately four out of every five new voter-registrants were registered in Muslim held Northern areas as against only one out of every five registered in Christian held areas.
- Extortion And Deprivations Marred CVR In The South: During the 2022 CVR, there were widespread reports of use or application by INEC of technical hitches including delaying tactics, shortage of machines and manpower, extortion and other bureaucratic stresses to deprive intending registrants from being captured as registered voters.
- Poor Awareness And Lukewarm Attitudes: Widely reported during the 2022 CVR was general poor awareness creation for citizens wishing to be registered or those wishing to have their PVCs in Nigeria or any of its part thereof particularly in the South
- 18-years-olds/Nearing 18-years-olds Denied Registration In The South And Minors Registered In The North: Widely reported during the 2022 CVR was deliberate capturing of minors and other underage in Muslim held areas of North including Yobe State as registered voters and PVCs’ bearers and turning off same in the Christian held areas of South where millions with few weeks to attain the age of eighteen were turned back and refused registration.
- Proxy And House-to-House CVR In The North As Against Appearance In Person In The South: There were widespread reports during the 2022 CVR exercise of application or use of discriminatory voters’ registration and PVC distribution procedures between the Muslim held areas in the North and the Christian held areas in the South. These included use of proxies such as District, Family and Religious heads in the North in addition to house-to-house voter registration and issuance of PVCs as against use of manual queues, inadequate personnel and machines, extortion and other stressful and corrupt methods in the South
- Massive Destruction Of 18.2m New Registrants Targeted At Non Muslims: The 2022 CVR exercise was marred by massive destruction of millions of the newly captured or registered voters by INEC. The Commission had embarked on massive destruction of the newly registered voters to mark its frustration over an unprecedented surge in the number of citizens seeking to be registered, which the Commission clandestinely linked to popularity and acceptance by the citizenry of entrance into the presidential race by one or two popular and credible candidates ahead of the Feb 2023 Presidential Poll in Nigeria.
- Expression Of Partisanship/Frustration By INEC Officials By Attacking The Surge In 2022 CVR: Several media reports had quoted top INEC officials including the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as having publicly attacked new registrants for “suddenly waking up from their slumbers”; a height of partisanship, compromise and incompetence. These are also contrary to the extant legal provisions regarding voters’ registration in Nigeria or any part thereof with acronym: “Continuous Voters’ Registration”. The Commission also went ahead to shut out and disenfranchise whopping 3.6m newly registered voters from 10.4m registered as at 30th June 2022; claiming that out of which “only 6.8m were successfully registered”.
- Mass Disenfranchisement Of Voters Seeking Their PVC Revalidation And Transfer: The 2022 CVR exercise was marred by deliberate use or application of technical hitches by INEC to frustrate and stop registered voters seeking transfer of their PVCs and those with issue of loss or misplacement or defacing of their PVCs. Those unable to have their voters’ locations successfully changed or their defaced or lost or destroyed PVCs recaptured or updated during the CVR exercise are in hundreds of thousands, if not in millions. As it stands presently, they have been disenfranchised by INEC from participating and voting in the country’s Feb 2023 Presidential Poll and other elections.
- Disenfranchisement Of 77.7m Truly Nigerian Citizens Of Voting Age: At the end of the 2022 CVR exercise which commenced on 28th June 2021 and heightened in May 2022 following the emergence of more popular presidential candidates, total of over 30m citizens of voting age were disenfranchised and shut out of the forthcoming 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll having not been registered. The fate of more than 20m others is also hanging in balance having been registered but not issued with PVCs since 2019. There are also 18.2m others whose lawful registrations were deliberately destroyed by INEC as well as 9.3m newly registered voters yet to be issued with PVCs.
- Millions Of INEC-held PVCs Dumped In The Pit, Bushes And Gutters: Millions of non Muslim PVCs in INEC custody across the country have been taken out of INEC custody by criminal officials of the Commission and their colluding political party officials and destroyed since May 2022. For instance, on Sunday, 7th August 2022, tens of thousands of PVCs belonging to Igbo and Yoruba Christians were seen dumped on waterways and inside gutters and videoed and shared on social media by a concerned citizen taking a walk exercise along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway near Lagos State.
On further investigation, it was discovered that the uncollected INEC-held Christian PVCs were criminally taken from far away INEC offices in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory and dumped in Lagos by hired political and religious fanatics, in collusion with INEC. Not long ago, another video trended on social media, exposing the excavation of over 20,000 Christian PVCs in Obio/Akpor area of Rivers State. There was also a discovery by a hunter about in late July 2022 of 320 Christian PVCs inside an uncompleted building in Bayelsa Forest. In Igboeze North of Enugu State, in May 2022, INEC office was compromised and thousands of Christian PVCs made away with.
- INEC Suspiciously Shutdown Its Online Registration Portal To Disenfranchise Millions: It is the collective opinion of critics that monitored the 2022 CVR that INEC hurriedly closed the CVR on 31st July 2022 instead of Sept 2022 as clearly stipulated in the 2022 Electoral Act of Nigeria as amended in order to massively disenfranchise millions of Nigerians of voting age of Southern and Christian extractions and use the controversial 2019 National Register of Voters for purpose of rigging in a favored presidential candidate and his or her political party and rig out the widely popular others. The above further also explains why the Commission destroyed whopping 18.2m new registrations and is maintaining a snail pace speed in issuing 9.3m newly registered voters with their PVCs to enable them vote in the Feb 25 2023 Presidential Poll.
- Illegalities Of INEC In 2022 CVR Favored Desperation For Muslim-Muslim Presidential Ticket: By our general evaluation of the illegalities of INEC during the 2022 segment of the 2021/2022 CVR, it is most likely correct to say that the Commission has stopped at nothing at ensuring the delivery of Muslim-Muslim Presidency for Nigeria in 2023. This is to the extent that the Commission is not perturbed or worried by torrential outcries across the country over desperate efforts by the central ruling party (APC) to foist a Muslim President/Muslim Vice President in Nigeria; a country of 386 tribes, multi-religious groupings including roughly 50-50 Christians and Muslims and multicultural compositions. These desperate efforts by promoters of Muslim-Muslim Presidency are nothing short of “full blown Islamic agenda”. Therefore, judging from the discriminatory and despicable roles of the Commission in the 2022 CVR elaborately highlighted in this Special Investigative Report, it is very correct to say that INEC has become the chief proponent of Muslim-Muslim Presidency ahead of the 2023 Presidential Poll.
Highlighting The Remaining 23 Poll Rigging Plots Under Execution
- Failure To Name Ownership Of Companies Supplying Sensitive Electoral Materials/Devices: Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has adamantly refused to publicly and truthfully disclose to Nigerians and the entire global community the company or companies and their owners presently handling the supply of machines for the printing of PVCs and other sensitive electoral materials or printing of PVCs and voting and result sheets; or those handling contracts for the supply of sensitive electoral machines such as Bimordal Voters’ Accreditation System (BVAS) and Voters’ Enrolment Device (IReV), etc. It must be recalled that in 2019, the present INEC Chairman publicly admitted that the then APC Senatorial Candidate (now a serving Senator) for Niger East Senatorial District, Senator Mohammed Musa’s Activate Technologies Limited was responsible for supply of machines used for printing of PVCs and other sensitive electoral materials (see Tribune Online of 17th Feb 2019). INEC’s refusal to publicly speak on the matter despite written demands to that effect by Intersociety and Inter-College for Democracy and Human Rights is a confirmation of strong suspicions that such contracts are in the hands of chieftains of the central ruling party including its serving elected public officers and leading candidates in the 2023 national elections especially the Presidential segment of the polls. The silence of INEC is also seen as one of the grand rigging plots ahead of the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll.
- Militarization Of Election Arenas: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there is most likely going to be militarization of election arenas under INEC’s watch and collusion in the Feb 2023 Presidential Poll so as to frighten voters and scare them away. This will be widespread and targeted at opposition strongholds and on the grounds of their tribe and religion
- Instigation Of Group Violence And Other Sponsored Attacks: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there is most likely going to be instigation of group violence and other coordinated attacks against members of a particular voting population on the grounds of their faith and tribe so as to massively disenfranchise and stop them from voting in the Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. The above was widely the case in non native areas of Lagos, Kano, Plateau, FCT, Kaduna and others in the 2019 Presidential and Governorship Elections
- Padding Of Votes And Inflation Of Results: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there may most likely be widespread padding of voting figures and inflation of results in the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll by malicious electoral officials using crooked computer software to favor the favored candidates.
- BVAS And IReV Devices To Be Programmed For Mass Failure In Non Muslim Areas: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there may most likely be programming of accreditation and voting capturing machines in the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll for widespread failures targeted at the opposition strong-holds for purpose of mass disenfranchisement of members of the affected voting population
- Strict Application Of Use Of BVAS And IReV In The South: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there is most likely going to be application of strict procedures in the South during the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election including facilitation of widespread failure of INEC’s voters’ accreditation and voting machines such as the ‘Voter’s Enrolment Device (IReV)’ and the ‘Bimodal Voter’s Accreditation System (BVAS)’ using computer’s monopolized command languages as against application of the contrary (compromised) methods and procedures in the North
- Loose Procedures Including Manual (non PVC) Voting Likely In Muslim Areas: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there may most likely going to be relaxation or loose application of biometric voter accreditation and voting procedures in the North especially in Muslim held areas in the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election. The strict procedures include use of manual voting and collation of results are most likely to be perpetrated in the area using radical ethno-religious groups and compromised security forces especially soldiers. The above was widely reported to be the case during the 2019 Presidential Election
- Unchecked And Indiscriminate Vote-buying In Opposition Strongholds: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof especially during the 2019 Presidential Poll, there may most likely going to be unchecked or indiscriminate vote buying in opposition strongholds in the Feb 2023 Presidential Poll, to be perpetrated and perfected at targeted percentage of the country’s 176,846 poling units and 8,809 electoral wards.
- Incessant Cases Of Ballot Box Snatching And Destruction Of Result Sheets: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there may most likely going to be incessant cases of ballot box snatching and destruction of voting materials in the forthcoming Feb 2023 Presidential Poll z
- Deliberate Late Arrival Of Voting Materials And Personnel: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof, especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there is likely going to be deliberate late arrival of voting materials and personnel as well as late accreditation of voters in addition to other hitches such as failure of capturing and voting machines. These are to be targeted at opposition strongholds in the North and South including Anambra, Edo and others; all with intent to disenfranchise millions of voters from the areas from willingly and timely voting candidates of their choice.
- Escalation Of State Actor Violence Or Military Siege: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof, especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there is most likely going to be intensification and escalation of state actor violence including military siege, military and police brutalities and deadly use of force especially in South-East, South-South and Christian parts of the North-West, North-East and North-Central; with intent to scare away millions of voters yearning for candidates of their choice.
- Doctoring Of Paper And Electronic Voting Figures In Polling Units: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof, especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, there is most likely going to be widespread doctoring of paper and electronic voting figures in polling units, collation centers and INEC’s strong rooms in the Feb 2023 Presidential Poll by criminal electoral officials in collusion with desperate political parties and their candidates.
- Six Million Stolen Identities (Stolen PVCs) As Major Digital Rigging Plot: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof, especially during the 2019 Presidential Election, uncollected and procured Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), numbering at least 6m are most likely going to be a major source of digital poll in the Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. In collusion with INEC, desperate politicians have been going about procuring and hoarding millions of such PVCs for electronic and server rigging of the crucial poll. In July 2022, some political aides suspected to be working for the Gov of Borno State, wearing his customized faze caps were caught in a video sharing N500 notes among women and children and collecting their PVCs at a location that looked like IDP Camp in the State. Intersociety had since 2017 made several findings and exposed several plots concerning the new pattern introduced and used by INEC in collusion with desperate politicians to scientifically rig national and sub-national elections using INEC-held and procured PVCs.
This was exposed during the Anambra State Governorship Elections of Nov 2017 and Nov 2021. Collected PVCs include those criminally procured by politicians and uncollected PVCs include those INEC-held PVCs belonging to registered citizens still in the custody of INEC but compromised and handed over to desperate politicians to be used in scientific poll rigging. These criminal PVCs become instruments for scientific poll rigging when they are criminally captured on INEC severs and uploaded on Election Day as “validly cast votes” and credited to votes allocated to favored candidates as “validly cast votes”. Their criminal processes are manually perfected by INEC by compromising ballot papers in commensurate quantity or number with the number of criminal PVCs uploaded. The compromised ballot papers are thump-printed at designated criminal quarters for purpose of manually legitimizing the criminal act at electoral courts. In the Nov 18 2017 Governorship Election in Anambra State, INEC declared 8,540 voters as “having been accredited but did not vote”. This is even when INEC had used and still uses “simultaneous accreditation and voting” method. It later turned out that the figures were the shortfall between the criminally uploaded PVCs and criminally thump-printed ballot papers. The Commission had no other option than to invalidate them to avoid being in trouble at electoral courts. It has been found that advanced form of the above has been evolved ahead of 2023 Presidential Poll.
- Election Postponements And Inconclusive Elections: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof, especially during the 2019 Presidential Poll, election postponements and inconclusive elections have become a rigging tool under INEC. This is such that they are used, in addition to heavy militarization of mapped out areas, to brazenly and mindlessly deprive voters of their inalienable rights to elect popular candidates of their choice. Once the mapped out arenas are heavily militarized under the pretext of ‘election security’, most of the voters become scared and stay away to avoid being harmed leading to riggers having a field day. These were brazenly the case in the 2019 Presidential Poll and 2018 Osun State Governorship Election and it is most likely going to be the case in the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll in Nigeria.
- Indiscriminate Planting And Detonation Of Explosives To Scare Millions Of Voters Away: Going by recent electoral outcomes and findings in Nigeria or any part thereof, especially during the 2019 Presidential Poll, independent intelligence at our disposal is strongly pointing at the likelihood of eruption of indiscriminate planting and detonation of bombs and other explosive devices months or weeks to the Feb 2023 Presidential Election; to be targeted in opposition strongholds. With troubling state of security across the country including the untamed and menacing attacks by Jihadists and subversive activities of radicalized or extremist elements within the country’s security forces, these fears are both informed and sustained. Election related bombings or explosions have become part of election riggings with intent to scare away most of the independent voters and provide a field day for state actor and non state actor poll riggers.
- Emergence Of State Actor And Non-State Actor Political Death Squads: Considering the escalation and heightening of state actor and non state actor violence against persons and properties in the country, fueled by INEC’s determination to force unpopular and failed presidential candidates on Nigerians through its catalogues of 50 illegalities, ‘state actor and non state death squads, if unchecked, will escalate and heighten insecurity, fears and other unsafe conditions against voting and general Nigerian population ahead of Nigeria’s crucial Feb 25, Presidential Poll. The risen death squads include those raised within the security forces (Army, Police and DSS and their allied entities) and those raised from the Jihadists and militants; funded by Government and deadly political actors to target for elimination or terrorization of political figures and their security and civilian aides (collateral victims) with intent to frighten and scare away millions of independent voters and rig the Feb 2023 Presidential Poll. Discovered recently was secret flooding of South-East and South-South forests, bushes, farmlands and roads and communal bypasses with Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen under the protection of the military and police crack squads to engage in wanton destruction of lives and properties including abductions, armed robberies, sexual violence and communal forest invasions and occupations for purpose of creating general panics and fears, bloods and tears to scare away millions of Southern and non Northern Muslim voters ahead of 2023 Presidential Poll.
- Hanging Fate Of 29.5m Registered Voters Denied PVCs: Going by illegalities of INEC perpetrated during the 2022 Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) and remorseless and recalcitrant stance maintained by the Commission, the hopes of millions of registered voters including the 20m denied PVCs since 2019 and the 9.5m recently registered but yet to be issued with PVCs are hanging in balance with slimmest chance of them participating and voting in the all-important Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election. Danger is also rocking for hundreds of thousands of others whose names, many, if not most of whom Christians, are most likely to be bureaucratically omitted or disenfranchised with ulterior motives by INEC from their local Voters’ Registers. The latter are most likely going to be victims of Election Day PVC disenfranchisement.
- Worrying Disparity Of 90% Muslim And 50% Christian PVCs Distribution: Apart from informed and sustained fears over possibility of more criminal disenfranchisement of millions of newly registered voters who are part of the 9.3m INEC mangled as “successfully registered new voters” between 28th June 2021 and 31st July 2022, strong indications abound that most of those retained as “finally accepted registered voters” are not going to be issued with PVCs to enable them participate and vote in the crucial Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election. Several findings made by Intersociety have indicated that INEC has earned notoriety in discriminatory issuance and distribution of PVCs especially using ethnicity and religion. It has been observed that the ratio for issuing and distributing PVCs in Nigeria by INEC between Muslim held areas especially in the North and Christian/other non Muslim held areas especially in the South is 90%/50% or 90% for the Muslims and 50% for Christians. While INEC adopts issuance and distribution of PVCs in Muslim held areas especially in the North using District, Family and Religious heads, the Commission adopts very strict and cumbersome methods in Christian held areas especially in the South. Pieces of evidence also abound in Christian held areas especially Southern Nigeria whereby registered voters find their ways to Local Government INEC offices in search of their PVCs and meet such offices repeatedly empty or ill-equipped with inadequate personnel. Sometimes they are subjected to sundry extortion or will be asked to repeat their check-visits. At other times, such PVCs will be nowhere to be located or they are found dumped undistributed at INEC’s State or National Headquarters. The worst of it all is that it stands today, INEC has not shown any readiness and seriousness of ensuring all-inclusive and effective ways of issuing and distributing PVCs including adoption of proxy or District, Family and Religious headship collection methods used for Muslim held areas.
- $11b (N6.5 trillion) Alleged Nigerian Govt/INEC Digital Poll Rigging Plot For 2023 Presidential Poll: This grand digital poll rigging plot, first exposed in July 2022 and tagged: “2023 Presidential Election Evil Plans of APC”, is at implementation stage-with over 10m bank accounts and their owners’ PVC details already harvested in full collusion with INEC top management officials. The plot is alleged to be the handiwork of the federal authorities (Government of Nigeria), its ruling party and some agencies and parastatals (named in the documentary) and unnamed top officials of INEC for purpose of massively and scientifically rigging the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Election; to be executed with whopping N6.5trillion or $11b sourced through illegitimate means by some national and sub-national public office agencies including governors of the States controlled by the federal ruling party using phony charities or their names.
- 20m Minors, Migrants, Fake Names And Stolen Identities May Pollute 2023 Presidential Results: With fresh busting and discovery of not less than 4m fake names in 22 States including Imo with largest number, the unlikelihood of citizens’ votes counting in Nigeria’s Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll has further grown. The Nigeria’s Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), a leading political pressure group had freshly uncovered flooding of INEC’s National Register of Voters with “10m fake voters’ registrations” in 22 States with Imo State having the highest number. There are also 8m underage children, 2m illegal migrants and 6m stolen identities in the National Register of Voters; in addition to 10m compromised genuine PVC holders. Out of these ineligible and corrupted voting identities, 18m may be cooked up and allowed to form part of the 25th Feb 2023 Presidential Poll final results; to be comprised of 14m ‘total living votes’ and 18m ‘total dead votes’.
- Undemocratic Litigations And Abuses Of Court Process: As it was the case in 1993 (per Late Justice Rosaline Ikpeme), such undemocratic litigations and abuses of court process concerning the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria especially the Presidential Poll may most likely include court orders restraining INEC from using electronic devices such as BVAS or continuing with presidential election or announcing its results and declaring its winner. Such was responsible for scuttling the democratic process of 1993 leading to military takeover and six years of military rule. Therefore, it is most likely correct to say that unless extreme care and measures are taken by Nigeria’s democratic forces and critical international actors, otherwise a violent military takeover is likely to be one of the rigging plots hatched ahead of the 2023 General Elections especially the Presidential Poll.
- 7m-11m “Incomplete Registrants” May Be Used In Rigging The 2023 Presidential Poll: With testimonial accounts of Miss Adesina Paul Monijesu and Miss Joy Temitope and several ‘dark figure’ accounts, suspicions and fears are strong pointing to the likelihood of the Independent National Electoral Commission diverting greater number of the 7m-11m disenfranchised “incomplete registrants” into digital rigging of the Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll in Nigeria. If not monitored and effectively checked, they will swell the number of millions of ghost names, illegal aliens, minors and stolen identities already smuggled by INEC into the 2022 National Register of Voters.
- Continuation Of 90%/50% Disparity In PVC Distribution Between Muslims And Non Muslims: From the look of things including realities on the ground, there will be continuation of 90%/50% disparity between Muslims and non Muslims in the issuance and distribution of Permanent Voters’ Cards or PVCs by Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Owing to the fact that INEC had long ago programmed this policy of serious disparity in voters’ registration and PVC distribution, it is very unlikely that the Commission, except under serious international pressure and rebuking, will have a genuine change of heart. This is more so when the Commission is battling with time constraints ahead of the 2023 General Elections. With regard to the 29.5m registered citizens without PVCs-mainly non Muslims, it is projected that only a fraction will receive PVCs between end of Sept and Dec 2022. For clarity, in the CVR and PVC distribution exercises conducted in Nigeria from 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022, Muslims including Muslim minors and aliens had taken 90% as against their non Muslim counterparts (with zero minor and alien age bracket representations), who recorded 50% representation.
Prayers:
Tying International Funding Supports To INEC To Credible Electoral Accountability
We are respectfully calling on critical international institutions and Governments especially the Governments of United States, United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Canada, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, etc, and their democracy and human rights funding agencies as well as the European Union and relevant UN Agencies and other important international institutions providing funding supports for democracy in Nigeria or any part thereof to forensically monitor and evaluate Nigeria’s INEC and its activities especially with regard to Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election so as to ensure that the funding supports to the Commission are uncompromisingly tied to credible electoral accountability including massive enfranchisement of citizens and issuance of PVCs to all registered citizens of voting age.
These, Nigeria’s INEC must be compelled to do without discrimination as to the voting age citizens’ class, gender, religion and ethnicity. Such mandatory citizens of voting age enfranchisement must include non-discriminatorily registering them during Continuous Voters’ Registration and issuing them with Permanent Voters’ Cards during PVC distribution which must be done in proportionality of number of those registered during CVR. Several credible international and local sources abound showing that hundreds of millions of Dollars or British Pounds or Euros from international governmental funding agencies and others have continued to be given to Nigeria’s INEC for delivery of inclusive and participatory credible elections in Nigeria or any part thereof; and in the end, contrary has always been the case. A typical case in point was the recent announcement by the Biden Government of the United States of its plan to “commit over $25m (has been increased to $50m) in coming year to Nigeria’s INEC and CSOs working for promotion of democracy ahead of Nigeria’s 2023 General Elections”. The monetary pledge is in addition to $2m pledged by the Biden-Kamala Government “to help support a safer and more secure elections environment; all subject to US Congressional approval”. The US Government’s announcement was made during 2nd Sept 2022 bilateral meeting between US Vice President, Madam Kamala Harris and her Nigerian counterpart, Prof Yemi Osinbajo at the US White House. The US Government and the US Congress must therefore be put in the statistical know so as to unmask what Nigeria’s INEC is presently cooking as elaborately highlighted in this Special Investigative Report. The international actors called upon must avoid continuing funding or supports to ethno-religious jingoists pretending to be neutral electoral umpire.
Critically Study And Analyze This Special Investigative Report
For purpose of understanding the enormity of rot in Nigeria’s INEC and the extent of the Commission’s derogation of international laws and rules guiding democracy and democratic process in order to form sound judgment or opinion on INEC, Intersociety is prayerfully inviting the above named international critical actors and institutions to patiently and forensically study this Special Investigative Report including the busted 50 poll rigging plots. Where there is want of reading time, the Report can be assigned to their Desk Officers for reading and analytical report of their findings to their superiors. Apart from our firm demand for credible electoral accountability by Nigeria’s INEC from the international critical democracy actors or players called upon, there is also need to internationally blacklist and sanction key INEC officials including its serving Chairman and all National and State Resident Electoral Commissioners. Such sanctions should include denying them and their families visas and resident permits in key democratic countries and world powers as well as denying them international recognitions including participation in international conferences and exchange programs and thorough monitoring of their finances, investments and lifestyles for purpose of exposing and blocking them.
Compelling INEC To Issue PVCs To 29.5m Registered Voters Denied PVCs Since 2019/2022
Critically international actors called upon including the respected world Democracies particularly the United States Government and the US Congress are prayerfully called upon to mount sufficient pressure on Nigeria’s INEC to devise all means necessary and available to issue registered citizens of the country, numbering over 29.5m with their PVCs to enable them participate and vote in the all-important Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria. Our recent findings have shown that unless Nigeria’s INEC is compelled internationally including tying its international funding supports and recognitions to credible electoral accountability; otherwise the Commission will remain unmoved and continue to hide under flimsy excuses and delaying tactics until the crucial Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll is widely and digitally rigged or manipulated. The present INEC leadership in Nigeria is found to be unrepentantly and unpretentiously deriving maximum joy in disenfranchising tens of millions of unregistered and registered voters by denying them registration and access to their PVCs on the grounds of their tribe and religion. The Commission must also be compelled internationally to wipe out or flush out the existing and independently exposed 20m ineligible identities comprising 8m underage children, 2m illegal migrants, 4m fake names and 6m stolen identities presently flooding and polluting the National Register of Voters. Critical attention must be paid on Presidential Poll Day of 25th Feb 2023 on 12 Major Poll Rigging Nigerian States listed in this Special Investigative Report.
Researched And Investigated For Intersociety By:
- Emeka Umeagbalasi, Criminologist/Researcher
Grassroots Democracy and Human Rights Advocate since 1995
Fellow, Int’l Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US States Department (Class of June 2013)
Board Chair/Lead-Director, Int’l Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Assisted By:
- Chinwe Umeche Esquire, LLB, BL, Head, Democracy and Good Governance, Intersociety
- Chidinma Udegbunam Esquire, LLB, BL, Head, Campaign and Publicity, Intersociety
- Obianuju Joy Igboeli Esquire, LLB, BL, Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Intersociety
- Ndidiamaka Bernard Esquire, LLB, BL, LLM, Head, Int’l Justice and Human Rights, Intersociety
Contacts:
Mobile/WhatsApp Line: +2348174090052, +2348100098016
Email: info@intersociety-ng.org, Website: https://intersociety-ng.org
All Rights Reserved: Intersociety Report On Nigeria’s INEC: December 2022