Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian novelist, says the process of
the Nigeria presidential election was not marred by technical faults but
deliberately manipulated.
In a letter addressed to Joe Biden, the US president,
Adichie expressed dissatisfaction over the process of the presidential election
conducted on February 25.
She said the election was full of discrepancies and
irregularities which were all shunned by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC).
“Since the end of military rule in 1999, Nigerians have had
little confidence in elections. To vote in a presidential election was to brace
yourself for the inevitable aftermath: fraud,” she wrote in the letter
published on Thursday.
“Elections would be rigged because elections were always
rigged; the question was how badly. Sometimes voting felt like an
inconsequential gesture as predetermined “winners” were announced.
“A law passed last year, the 2022 Electoral Act, changed
everything. It gave legal backing to the electronic accreditation of voters and
the electronic transmission of results, in a process determined by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The chair of the commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu,
assured Nigerians that votes would be counted in the presence of voters and
recorded in a result sheet and that a photo of the signed sheet would
immediately be uploaded to a secure server.
“When rumours circulated about the commission not keeping
its word, Yakubu firmly rebutted them. In a speech at Chatham House in London
(a favourite influence-burnishing haunt of Nigerian politicians), he reiterated
that the public would be able to view “polling-unit results as soon as they are
finalized on election day”.
“Nigerians applauded him. If results were uploaded right
after voting was concluded, then the ruling party, the All Progressives
Congress (APC), which has been in power since 2015, would have no opportunity
for manipulation. Technology would redeem Nigerian democracy. Results would no
longer feature more votes than voters.
“Nigerians would no longer have their leaders chosen for
them. Elections would, finally, capture the true voice of the people. And so
trust and hope were born.
“By the evening of February 25, 2023, that trust had dissipated.
Election workers had arrived hours late, or without basic election materials.
“There were reports of violence, of a shooting at a polling
unit, and of political operatives stealing or destroying ballot boxes. Some
law-enforcement officers seemed to have colluded in voter intimidation; in
Lagos, a policeman stood idly by as an APC spokesperson threatened members of a
particular ethnic group who he believed would vote for the opposition.”
INEC AND ELECTRONIC ELECTION
She said Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman, despite
promising a free and credible election, hastily announced a winner without
investigating reports of irregularities recorded during the polls.
She said the elections were not only rigged but also
insulted the intelligence of Nigerians as there was no legal action to issues
of evident manipulations reported.
“Most egregious of all, the electoral commission reneged on
its assurance to Nigerians. The presidential results were not uploaded in real-time.
“Voters, understandably suspicious, reacted; videos from
polling stations show voters shouting that results be uploaded right away. Many
took cellphone photos of the result sheets. Curiously, many polling units were
able to upload the results of the house and senate elections, but not the
presidential election,” she said.
“No one was surprised when, by the morning of the 26th,
social media became flooded with evidence of irregularities. Result sheets were
now slowly being uploaded on the INEC portal, and could be viewed by the
public. Voters compared their cellphone photos with the uploaded photos and saw
alterations: numbers crossed out and rewritten; some originally written in
black ink had been rewritten in blue, some blunderingly whited-out with
Tipp-Ex. The election had been not only rigged but done in such a shoddy,
shabby manner that it insulted the intelligence of Nigerians.”
‘INEC SHUNNED RED FLAGS’
“As vote counting began at INEC, representatives of
different political parties—except for the APC—protested. The results being
counted, they said, did not reflect what they had documented at the polling
units. There were too many discrepancies,” she added.
“It seemed truly perplexing that, in the context of a
closely contested election in a low-trust society, the electoral commission
would ignore so many glaring red flags in its rush to announce a winner. (It
had the power to pause vote counting, to investigate irregularities—as it would
do in the governorship elections two weeks later.)
‘US. RESPONSE MUST NOT BE BUSINESS AS USUAL
Adichie said it was shocking that the US state department
congratulated Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president-elect, and further described the
election as a “competitive election” that “represents a new period for Nigerian
politics and democracy”.
“American intelligence surely cannot be so inept. A little
homework and they would know what is manifestly obvious to me and so many
others: The process was imperiled not by technical shortcomings but by
deliberate manipulation,” she said.
The Nigerian novelist asked Biden to uphold his stance on
the need for a true democracy, adding that congratulating Tinubu will be
endorsing the illegitimate process that produced him as president.
“I hope, President Biden, that you do not personally share
this cordial condescension. You have spoken of the importance of a “global
community for democracy,” and the need to stand up for “justice and the rule of
law.” A global community for democracy cannot thrive in the face of apathy from
its most powerful member,” she added.
“Why would the United States, which prioritizes the rule of
law, endorse a president-elect who has emerged from an unlawful process?
“This Nigerian election was supposed to be different, and
the U.S. response cannot—must not—be business as usual.
“Congratulating its outcome, President Biden tarnishes
America’s self-proclaimed commitment to democracy. Please do not give the sheen
of legitimacy to an illegitimate process. The United States should be what it
says it is.”
By Gbola Isama MS.
