Professor Chidi Odinkalu, an internationally renowned lawyer and human rights activist, has spoken out about the various effects of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) subpar performance, particularly in the eyes of the rest of the world, amid the ongoing controversy that has continued to follow the outcome of the recently concluded presidential election at every twist and turn.
In a recent interview with Sahara Reporters TV, Odinkalu said that not only would there be no widespread celebration of the country’s election of a presidential candidate, but also that foreign leaders would be the first to remove their initial congratulations to a Nigerian president-elect from their communications…… CONTINUE READING
“INEC announced the results at night and nobody celebrated. I think that sums up the entire election. You would want to think that when an election has been anticipated for this long, and the contest is as keen, then when the results are announced, at least some people would be happy. And even if the results were not on the side you preferred, you would at least be relieved that the tension is over, right? But this is the first time in Nigeria since the presidential elections began in 1999 that nobody has dared to celebrate the results of an election. And in my lifetime, since witnessing elections as a kid in 1979, this is the first time nobody is celebrating an election.
It is also the first time that the results were announced at night, about the time when witches and wizards are returning from their covens. It is also the first time respectable people around the world are unwilling to congratulate the winner. No foreign leader has ever deleted a congratulatory message to any of our presidents-elects before. But some people like the former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have had to delete their congratulatory messages. It says a lot about what was done. But the dreadful about it all is the willful and egregious manner in which INEC under the leadership of Mahmud Yakubu, has willfully and deliberately destroyed all the progress a generation of Nigerians have made in trying to build a dependable electoral administration.”….. CONTINUE READING
The past leaders that received it what did they achieved let us congratulate ourselves