The National Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Dr. Onwubuya Abraham Breakforth, has absolved the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of blames for the inconclusive elections and other crisis in some states across the country.
In a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday, he said politics and political offices have become the biggest means of wealth and financial enrichment, thus aspirants and candidates were usually hell-bent on winning at all cost.
“Since the return of Democracy in 1999 until 2015 general elections, our democratization process reached a high that supposedly solidify the process rather we have started declining following the fallouts of 2019 general elections due to desperate attitudes of the political class.
“2019 General Elections has witnessed the worst era of electoral rascality and abnormally since 1999 with the devilish quest to grab power by all means by the political class.
“2019 elections was characterized with massive votes buying, ballot box snatching, thuggery, intimidation of INEC staff and Ad hoc staff, financially inducement of some INEC ad hoc staff, threats to life of other party agents, shooting at collation centres to manipulate results, to the extent of forcing INEC returning officers to announce altered results at gunpoint with a threat never to mention it, thereby making younger parties to suffer loses, which a typical examples of my party experience in Okigwe LGA in Imo state and Akwa Ibom by the two major parties,” he said.
He added that INEC adequately deployed materials and operational staff for 9th March, 2019 for Governorship and State House Assembly and that it was a progressive improvement of 23rd February, 2019 elections of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections respectively.
“The desperate politicians who want to clinch to power at all cost sabotaged the process. INEC leadership and staff were never involved in any electoral fraud or malpractices of thumb printing or over-voting,” he said.
He therefore urged support for INEC to ensure the success of the March 23 re-run elections.
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