Opinion: Tony Speaks on Rivers State Re-run Election

What happened in Rivers State during the weekend is a clear indication that Nigeria is now running backward under President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC.

First, it is shameful that the same Nigerian Army that earlier this year sacked  tens of senior military officers under the guise of their past involvement in electoral malpractices was the same Nigerian Army that was involved in the kind of malpractice that we saw in Rivers State. It it shameful that Buratai is now committing the same crime for which he sacked several senior military officers in the past.

It is shameful that the both political parties succeeded in disenfranchising thousands of women in Rivers state even before the election by their threat to shoot and kill. Alot of women did not show up for the election for the fear of their lives. Infact, the overall turnout for the election should legally make the outcome illegitimate. An election where over 60% of eligible voters could not show up to vote for fear of their lives should not be counted as an election.

In the polling unit I visited, it seemed like there were more security officers than eligible voters!

It is shameful that the federal security forces went beyond providing security and ended up becoming partisan.

It is unfortunate that a DSP was beheaded and some other security officers lost their lives. It is unfortunate that voters died in their attempt to cast their vote in their homeland.

It is unfortunate that several months after the Supreme Court declared the card readers as illegal, the National Assembly is yet to confer legality to the gadgets thereby making future elections susceptible to fraud and giving room for the kind of abnormalities we saw in the #RiversRerun.

It is unfortunate that while the federal govt saw nothing wrong in withdrawing federal security forces from an elected governor of a supposed autonomous state, the same federal govt saw nothing wrong in handing over federal security forces (including the army) to a mere political appointee called a Minister.

It is even more unfortunate that these kind of abnormalities will continue to happen because it is an integral byproduct of our skewed system. The system survives on these kind of abnormalities.

I look forward to that day when we shall have true federalism in Nigeria and when the federal government shall be made to understand that it has no right to even conduct elections for the states (it is an infringement on their autonomy in the place) through INEC, how much more intereferring in their electoral process through the use of federal security forces.

I look forward to the day when we shall have a restructured Nigeria based on the principles of true federalism.

I pray that future comes soon. Until then, lets continue to deceive ourselves with the present system.

Tony Osborg.