Electoral fraud must be prosecuted, else we are institutionalising it – Onovo

Martin Onovo, an engineer, is a former presidential candidate in the 2015 general election and the current head of policy positions, movement for fundamental change.

In this exclusive interview with INIOBONG IWOK, he spoke about the state of the nation and the spate of insecurity in Nigeria. Excerpts:

What is your take on Bola Tinubu’s administration so far?

The ad hoc regime of Bola Tinubu is a complete catastrophe that was accurately predicted by so many. Currently, public morality has been thoroughly tarnished,

INEC has been annexed by the ruling party, the judiciary has been recklessly rubbished, the national economy has been ruined, mass poverty and insecurity have been amplified.

All macroeconomic indices have reached the worst levels since independence and the insecurity has reached an unprecedented level. It was easy to foresee the catastrophe a Tinubu regime would bring and many people accurately predicted this catastrophe.

The three properly published principles that led to the development of Singapore from a third world to a first world country are Honesty, merit and pragmatism. The three principles are being contradicted by the undemocratic Tinubu ad hoc regime. As it is currently, we must stop the regime or it will push the country from its current “Failed State” status to “Complete Collapse” status.

A lot of people say he has not brought any new innovation to governance. Do you agree? What innovation do they expect? The overwhelming majority of Nigerians did not vote for him because it was very easy to see that he is unfit. He lacks a patriotic vision; he lacks even basic education; he is too old and he is morally challenged. He has been the mastermind of the Lagos State government since 1999.

Currently, Lagos State is the most indebted State in Nigeria and Lagos was ranked the second worst city to live in the world in 2019. What innovation did he bring when he was governor of Lagos State? What innovation can he bring at his age with his moral and mental mediocrity?

Nigerians are groaning over hardship and high living crisis. What is your take?

This is directly due to the incompetence and corruption in this ad hoc Tinubu regime. We had warned publicly against the removal of the PMS subsidy before the restoration of domestic refining but the incompetent ad hoc regime did not listen.

Presently, the regime incompetently pays more subsidy than the late Muhammadu Buhari administration Also, his incompetent attempt to close the FOREX rate gaps also resulted in further devaluation of the Naira and a wider gap between the official and parallel market rates. “Knowledge is power” and “My people perish for lack of knowledge”. My people; Nigerians are perishing due to the lack of knowledge of the ad hoc Tinubu regime.

The security situation is worsening; kidnapping and killing are up, what is your assessment of the security situation in the country?

The security situation in the country is currently the worst ever. No part of the country is safe; from Sokoto to Lagos to Portharcourt to Owerri to Jos to Maiduguri, there is unprecedented insecurity throughout Nigeria. We know with certainty that the ruling party is the direct sponsor of insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria. We know that from the confession of Alhaji Kawu Baraje, one of the founding fathers of the ruling party that the ruling party imported the terrorists.

The direct connection of the notorious terrorist Kabiru Sokoto to Alhaji Kassim Shetima, the payments made to terrorists operating in Kaduna State by Alhaji El-rufai. The clear and consistent statements made by General Buhari in support of the terrorists.

The convictions of Nigerian terrorist financers in a Dubai court and their confirmed connection to very high government officials in Nigeria. The government’s concealment of the names of the 400 terrorism sponsors it identified and the failure to prosecute them.

The physical evidence of terrorists operating with arms from Nigerian security forces in Crossriver and Plateau States and the disclosures by Sheik Gumi of collaborating with security officials in his interactions with terrorists in their camps. The public disclosures by Nigerian military generals that were involved in counter- terrorism operations.

The complicity of the ruling party makes it very difficult for the government formed by the same ruling party to control insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria.

We saw the Supreme Court affirm the victory of state Governors recently. Did it come as a surprise?

Is that a court or a circus? The Supreme Court or supreme circus cannot surprise any Nigerian currently. They surprised us with their Imo governorship judgment in 2020. They surprised us with their judgment on the Ahmed Lawan Yobe Senatorial primaries case in 2023.

They finally enthroned criminality with their judgment on the 2023 presidential election petitions. According to Afenifere, “the Supreme Court ratified brigandage”. According to Oby Ezekwesili, it was, “judicial enthronement of criminality”. According to Olu Fasan, “Nigeria’s judiciary is perceived worldwide as utterly corrupt, dysfunctional and lethargic.

According to the US Council on Foreign Relations, Nigeria is a failed State. With the judgment of the Supreme Court on the presidential election petition, the Supreme Court has initiated the complete collapse of Nigeria.

There have been increased agitations for the Bola Tinubu’s administration to restructure the country in recent weeks. What is your take?

Restructuring is even more imperative now. The current structure is skewed and imbalanced. The imbalance is a source of friction and crises that distracts Nigeria from its developmental objectives.

If we restructure Nigeria to have six, eight, ten or twelve component units, we can achieve so many desirable features including; some economies of scale; efficient custom-made development agenda for every region; healthy inter-regional competition; more concerted focus in each region to develop their particular competitive economic advantages; improved security and reduced poverty.

This was the experience Nigeria had in the first republic when the North developed its groundnut pyramids and other products, the East developed its palm oil and other products and the west developed its cocoa and other products. During that period, the three regional economies grew at very high rates. That great experience can be repeated again with restructuring.

What is your thought about INEC handling of recent gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo States?

INEC is the principal enemy of democracy in Nigeria. Like the fraudulent presidential selection INEC conducted in 2023, the Imo and Kogi States selections were also clearly very fraudulent. What happened in Kogi and Imo States cannot be called elections. It was questionable to participate in any election conducted by INEC under the leadership of Alhaji Mahmood Yakubu. We support those that have launched the End INEC campaign. In Kogi and Imo States, we saw the abuse of security forces by the ruling party.

In Kogi, we saw some INEC officers with result sheets completed before their arrival at some polling stations. In Imo, we saw the violent assault of Labour Party collation agents. We saw a Senior Advocate of Nigeria go to polling stations with security operatives to assault INEC officers and hijack election materials in Imo State. We cannot ascertain yet if the security operatives are fake or authentic. We will presume that they are authentic until it is confirmed otherwise

What we saw was a celebration of crime, criminality, lawlessness and impunity.

There are calls for electoral reforms ahead 2027. What are the reforms that you like to see?

What happened to the reforms we made in the Electoral Act 2022? How many times are we going to repeat these cycles of national deceit? For us, it is not about deceitful reforms. It is about the pervasive lawlessness and the necessity of the rule-of-law.

There must be prosecution of electoral crimes committed in the 2023 presidential elections. All the INEC officials that rigged the 2023 presidential elections must be prosecuted. Their crime is treasonable and the evidence is clear. If not, then it is a final approval for electoral fraud in all elections in Nigeria.