A coalition of civil society group, #OurMumuDonDo, for the prosecution of a former deputy senate president, Ibrahim Mantu, for alleged electoral malpractices stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission headquarters in Abuja on Friday to make demands.
In a letter to the INEC chairman, #OurMumuDonDo stated that the former Peoples Democratic Party chieftain should be arraigned for allegedly “subverting the will of the people during several elections.”
In an interview on Channels TV, Mantu had confessed to rigging several elections for his former party, PDP, by inducing electoral officers to falsify results and to violate the electoral laws.
This admission led PDP, to not only refute his claim but also disown him.
The group wrote “This is a good opportunity for the electoral commission to demonstrate its resolve to prosecute electoral offenders as a deterrent to others.”
It read, “As we have mentioned in our previous engagements with the INEC, the number of Nigerians going to the polling booths has been in a consistent decline since 2003 and the reason for this, among other disturbing factors, is the downright rigging of elections — a vile act which blatantly infringes on the right of the Nigerian people to freely exercise their franchise.
“It is therefore imperative that the electoral umpire, the INEC, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the law enforcement agencies, rise to this clarion call to prosecute Senator Mantu and all his accomplices.”
A member of the coalition, Adebayo Raphael, argued that Nigerians have lost trust in the electoral system, adding that only a proper overhaul of the system could restore public confidence in the system.
“Nigerians have completely lost trust in the electoral system, so we are hoping that by this patriotic act by #Ourmumudondo, the INEC, the AGF and other law enforcement agencies would sanitize the system.
“We submitted a letter to INEC and we are hoping to get a response from them,” he said.
See the video, courtesy, #OurMumuDonDo
https://twitter.com/_/status/982215037774315520