28th March, 2015
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, on Saturday said that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, still has a long way to go in its ability to conduct hitch-free elections in Nigeria.
Oyegun, who addressed journalists in Benin, southern Nigeria, after casting his vote at about 4 pm at Oredo Ward 2, Unit 2, said that the structure of INEC is still treating Nigerians like animals.
“Let me say this, that the structure of INEC is still treating Nigerians like animals. This is no condition for people to vote. If you look around, you only found the young and just a few people of my age.
“Thank God that they have the stamina, those who can put up with this. People have been here since 7 am, now it is 4 pm and voting has just started. I am the second person to vote. So you can imagine that by 6 O’clock, they will still be here waiting to vote,” Oyegun said.
Even when it was obvious that some voters left the polling centres without voting as a result of non availability of result sheets, the APC chairman expressed confidence that his party will still come out victorious, adding that it is too early to judge the credibility of the electoral process.
“As far as I am concerned, 90 percent of our people are still with us and they are waiting to vote for change. Yes, we may lose five percent because of impatience on the part of those who left, particularly when it was clear that the result sheets were not here.
“A lot of people were saying that INEC were at it again, they want to fake the election, and out of frustration, they went away. But I think we still have enough of the crowd to vote for change. But it is still too early to judge the credibility of the electoral process.
“Yes, it could affect the overall results of the elections, because people who did not have patience and have alternative things to do, especially things that have to do with bread and butter, would have gone. But worse is the discovery we made when we were about to start voting, that there were no result sheet. That was more important. The card reader issue was sorted out after some time. That was preparing the ground for rigging,” he said.
Meanwhile, elections in Orhiomnwon Local Government Area of Edo State were Saturday cancelled over delay in arrival of election materials and mix-up in result sheets.
As at the time of filing this report, it was not clear when the elections will now hold as all efforts to get response of INEC officials failed.