2023: Igini advises IG, heads of security agencies against transfers near elections; berates politicians for diminishing democracy

The just retired Resident Electoral Commissioner of Akwa Ibom state, Mr. Mike Igini has advised the Inspector General of Police and other heads of security agencies not to post Commissioners of Police out of states six months to the conduct of the general election. The essence according to him is so that they can know the personnel in their command as well as have sufficient knowledge and understanding of their Commands.

The admonition according to him is not unconnected with his experience as a REC in Akwa Ibom state, were during the build-up to the 2019 general elections, influential politicians in the state caused the transfer of seven Police officers and other security personnel.

Igini made these remarks while addressing political stakeholders and journalists in the state as he was retiring from active service in the Commission in Uyo.

The fearless and outspoken REC, who was taking a holistic overview of his tenure in Akwa Ibom state, stressed that such actions were taken because the security officials refused to compromise the due processes in conducting the said elections.

“These influential politicians (s) have seen redeployment from this State of over seven Commissioners of Police and Heads of other security agencies that were unwilling to be part of the process of subverting the 2019 elections. This practice should not be allowed to happen as we approach the 2023 elections. Commissioners of Police and other heads of security agencies should not be posted out of state six months before the conduct of general elections so that they can know the personnel in their command and have sufficient knowledge and understanding of their various Commands.

“It may interest you to know that it was the intelligence reports we received and acted upon within 48 hours to the Governorship and State House of Assembly election that rendered useless pre-written election results of 26 LGAs out of 31 LGAs that were flown into Uyo. I went to the Central Bank and spent hours upon hours endorsing all the result sheets of the entire State. And that was what saved the 2019 election from producing a totally different outcome from the choices that the people eventually made at the polling units.

“A number of ad hoc staff, mainly Corps members were abducted on their way to RAC centers on the eve of the election in Essien Udim LGA where unparalleled thuggery and violence was unleashed on poll officials. Television Continental (TVC) crew as well as foreign observers were assaulted and beaten up.

“Despite all the odds stacked against the Commission, and the determined efforts to rig the 2019 election, we deployed our EMSC tracking tools to deliver ballot papers and result sheets and other electoral materials to all polling units effectively and efficiently”, he said.

He further appealed to stakeholders and electorates to take seriously the issues of rule of law, stressing that democracy would have no future if not anchored on the rule of Law and its strict compliance by all stakeholders.

“Without the rule of Law, regulations, and guidelines, elections would be nothing but a crude contest in the deployment of force. Democracy will not survive in the soil of absolutism, where actors reject the norms and values on which democracy is practiced, democracy will die. Let us keep this democracy ever young to meet the aspirations of the Nigerian people.

“The respect for the will of the people is the beginning of responsible leadership because it represents the liberal dimension of liberal democracy. As INEC innovates to improve the process of acquiring power through peaceful and credible elections, there are people who still crave an unequal edge and asymmetric power over others in our society. That is why names of those who won valid party primaries elections are substituted for those who did not participate in primaries monitored by the election management body”.

He recalled all the challenges INEC under his watch in the past including threats to life by some politicians, adding that the distraction was massive and total with calls for his re-deployment from the state to pave way for the return to the old ways of arbitrary writing of election results.

“Looking back at the last five years as I take a bow today from INEC and say goodbye, we can say with every sense of modesty that the Independent National Electoral Commission under Professor Mahmood Yakubu has worked so hard to expand the radius and frontiers of credible elections for the sustenance of our democracy.

“As we prepare for the 2023 elections, the people of Akwa Ibom and Nigerians must stand up and not be overwhelmed by the forces that seek to decay democracy in our country.

I want to sincerely thank President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunity to serve and for being part of the collective effort to give meaning and purpose to the ballot as the best means of the expression of the will of the people in a democracy.