LP chairman accuses INEC of mismanaging 2023 elections

The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of mismanaging the 2023 general elections.

This was just as a former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr Sam Amadi, called for a probe into how the electoral umpire spent the N400bn released for the conduct of the poll.

Addressing a gathering of party faithful during a programme to celebrate Democracy Day in Abuja on Wednesday, Abure expressed disappointment with how INEC conducted the presidential poll where the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Tinubu, was declared the winner.

The LP chair also called for a holistic approach to the ongoing electoral reforms to ensure people are abreast of recent developments.

He said, “This reminded us that there is a similarity between the military regime of 1993 that annulled the general elections and the 2023 election which INEC mismanaged.

“One of the cardinal strong points to prepare the Labour Party again for the 2027 general elections is to ensure a holistic approach to electoral reform to ensure that the party followers are well-educated.”

Amadi, a guest lecturer at the event, appealed to the 10th National Assembly to investigate the role played by INEC at the 2023 general election.

The former NERC chairman also noted that the probe cannot be completed without the electoral body explaining to Nigerians and the international community to account for why the outcome of the 2023 poll failed to meet expectations despite budgeting N400bn from taxpayers’ money for the exercise.

“Nigerians and indeed the National Assembly should be courageous enough to probe INEC expenditure during the 2023 general elections. They also explain the failure of the INEC server during the Presidential election with all the money given to them.

“It is appalling that no one spoke about the huge amount of money given Mahmood Yakubu and all the INEC commissioners to prosecute a failed election because the Supreme Court has to step in to determine the result of elections,” he stated.

Amadi urged lawmakers involved in the ongoing electoral reform to reject the inconsistency of allowing the presidency to decide who will become the INEC Chairman.

According to him, such privilege gives room for election rigging before the votes are cast.

He said, “What is imminent here is that they may have already positioned party members as INEC commissioners against 2027 where they would work and declare the results in favour of the Presidency that appointed them.

“To this end, opposition parties should work together to win the war on electoral reform. It is time for you to decide whether to be the vanguard of change or not and set up a system that can win elections. This is because politics is not a game of possibility. If we are determined, we will win.

“I think it is an error for any political party to go into an election without strengthening its process. You must take a review of your past, your mistakes and opportunities and weigh options with training of staff and support for the electoral reform, things will positively work out.”

Also speaking, the Leader of the LP Reps caucus, Victor Oghene, promised that the electoral reform, which has passed the second reading at the lower chamber would ensure the bill is passed into law and early enough against the 2027 general elections.

The Chairman of the Trade Union Congress Political Commission, Martins Egbanubi, on the other hand, dismissed speculation that there is division in the Party.

“We don’t have two factional leaders and there can never be. So the Labour Party remains united and strong,” he assured.

In March 2024, According Online reported that Abure said the present challenges facing Nigeria as a nation should not be entirely blamed on leaders, stating that the crop of the current followership was also culpable.

He said the situation of the country was the result of the choices made by Nigerians during the last general elections.

Abure stated this in Lagos while speaking to newsmen in the wake of the Court of Appeal judgment reversing his sacking as the LP National Chairman.