As Nigeria is being plagued with post-election petitions, a former Independent National Electoral Commission, Abia State Resident Electoral Commissioner Mike Igini, has fingered the United Kingdom in the election manipulation issues in Nigeria.
Igini revealed this during his appearance on a political program on Arise Television’s morning show on Friday while answering questions on the conduct of the just concluded 2023 general elections, in Nigeria.
According to him, Nigerian politicians make the UK their second abode, and they learn all sorts of political manipulations from there, but even though the UK introduces them to all sorts of electoral manipulations for almost 100 years, they have not recorded a post-election petition like Nigeria.
”Today, we are now in Court over the election that has been conducted. It should be noted that the United Kingdom, UK, that today is one of the countries that our people are going to; in short, after Nigeria, they go to the UK. It should be noted that even the UK, which introduced Nigeria to election rigging for 99 years, almost a hundred years, had no post-election adjudication in the United Kingdom,” he said.
While condemning the level of corruption in our electoral system in Nigeria, the former REC, called on the political gladiators in the country, to change from their corrupt electoral manipulations, to set a pace for a better society.
Igini, who expressed concern about the level of dishonesty on the part of the politicians, advised the judiciary to rise with workable judiciary systems, to checkmate the political manipulations from the hand of our politicians, to build a better society, that is proud of free, fair and credible elections, in years to come.
He said, ”What I want Nigerians to know is that whatever we make of this country, that is what it will become. It is clearly in our hands because, in this country, Nigeria, with all the human and material resources, all that’s required is leadership.
