By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA-THE former Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, for Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mike Igini, yesterday, wrote a letter to late Gani Fawehinmi on free, fair and credible elections as an indispensable tool for national development.

The former REC also told the late human right activist that though some of his loyalists have abandoned the struggle, some of them have continued with the fight for a just fair and equitable society where there will be opportunity for all.

Igini in the letter sent on the 19th Annual Gani Fawehinmi lecture titled ‘Free, Fair and credible election as indispensable tool for National Development,’ said that with the new Electoral Act, no more appearance and disappearance of collation officers.

He also informed the late rights activist that he put 10 years as a REC in INEC adding that he never surrendered those pristine principles and values that they have been fighting for but remained through to them throughout his stewardship.

The letter reads: “Chief, even though in death and in Heaven with our creator, we continue to celebrate you every January because by your numerous fights for a just fair and equitable society where there will be opportunity for all and responsibility from all, we are still not where should be but the struggle continues and be assured that we will not deviate even though a number of people who identified with you when you were alive have abandoned the ideals that you stood for and have embarked on revisionism and repudiation of the principles and values they once fought for side by side with you as followers.

“By your unwavering commitment to a better society you wrote an enduring law in the hearts of all you left behind. You will live for all times.

“This is to let you know that Nigeria is about to conduct general elections by February 25 and March 11 respectively, under a new Electoral Act 2022. As usual, the country is tensed up as we approach these elections.

“Chief, many politicians are not happy and agitated because the new Electoral Act if and when implemented fully will retire many of them from politics. We have blocked all known loopholes both statutory and procedural used for rigging election such that electoral misfortune of the past will no longer be possible.

“The new Act has a total of 153 provisions out of which the law makers accepted 48 of 91 proposals that INEC sent that included some of those provisions you complained about when you were alive.

“They didn’t read very well and understood these provisions how they returned power to the voters at the polling units where elections can only be won and lost and no longer at collation centres or court rooms as you have always argued.

“As an update on one of the battles that you fought up to the Supreme Court (INEC vs Musa) and victorious for the expansion of Citizen’s participation through registration of parties, it may sadden you to hear disappointly that many of these new parties have become supporters club of the old parties.

“They wait for the fallout of the primary of the main political parties and field those who lost out as candidates. The two main political parties also sponsor them as party agents for conspiracy to share un-used ballot papers at the end of election. But INEC has used ICT process to block all those shenanigans.

“May I also inform you happily that the new Electoral Act 2022 has repealed those obnoxious election rigging provisions that you objected to repeatedly but replicated in all successive Act. Those provisions in the 2002, Act such as section 40, 41 and re-enacted in subsequent, 2006, 2010 and 2011 Acts under different sections that politicians in connivance with INEC Ad hoc staff used to rig elections.

“We have also succeeded after 20 years of fight and struggle in repealing section 52 that prohibited the use of technology in our elections. We are now using a device called BVAS (Bimodal voters Accreditation system) and Transmit Polling Units results real-time to IREV for the Nigerian people.”

“This system is the new game changer that has brought unequal tremendous energy of integrity and of hope to our electoral process. This is the reason for the panic in the camp of election rigger across Nigeria.

“Chief, more than any other time in the history of our country, there is unprecedented level of awareness and consciousness by Nigerians about their power to use the ballot paper to change the story of the country for good. We have a total number of 94. 5 million registered voters, Nigerians are fired up particularly the youths who are not smiling at all over the state of the nation.

“They constitute the highest voting demographic; they no longer play football during voters’ registration and collection of PVCs. They are gearing up to tell the world that they will make do their promise to use their PVCs in the February and March elections and take over the country. We are hopeful they will make do their promise.”