Mike Igini

According to Mike Igini, a former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom State, politicians will find it difficult to rig the 2023 elections.

This came as he highlighted some of the INEC-implemented steps, including one he called a “Dinosaur experience” to ensure a credible election in Nigeria in 2023.

Igini claimed that in addition to some of the procedures he listed, the electoral umpire had already taken further, as yet unspecified actions to ensure the 2023 election would be free, fair, and credible.

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Politicians planning to rig their way to power in 2023 are in for a shock, according to the former INEC officer.

He reportedly made the statements on Thursday during an interview, according to Anaedoonline.ng on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

According to him, “2023 will mark a watershed in the history of electoral conduct in Nigeria because INEC has developed quite a number of tools unknown to people. How many people know that INEC does tracking during elections and as I speak to you, following the signing of the Act on the 25th of February this year, on the 26th INEC went to office reversing and changing things to reflect the current electoral Act. Many politicians are going to have what we call a dinosaur experience in 2023.”

Igini emphasized that section 47 of the new Electoral Act is a key provision that will close several loopholes that politicians typically utilize to manipulate elections.

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According to Anaedoonline.ng, Section 47 of the Electoral Act allows INEC to verify, confirm, or authenticate the information provided by an intended voter in the manner specified by the Commission, which was not the case in the past, by using a smart card reader or any other technological device the Commission may prescribe.

Explaining the importance, Igini said: “Section 47 of the Electoral Act 2022 has helped this country to cure the mischief that has been going on since the 2002 Electoral Act. Section 40 of the 2002 electoral act and section 49 of the now-repealed 2010 Electoral Act have been used by politicians to rig elections in connivance with some of our corrupt and compromised poll officials.

“For a period of seventeen years this has been the problem we have been having with section 40 of the 2002 electoral act and section 49 to the effect that when a voter comes to a presiding officer upon being satisfied that he is the true person we should give him a ballot paper, this is what has been used to rig election.”

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He added that section 47 of the electoral act is why some politicians have been dropping stolen Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) because they have realized it can’t be used to rig elections anymore.

“I am sure recently you have been reading that they are dumping PVCs somewhere. Do you know the reason they are dumping PVCs? They are dumping PVCs because of the fact that section 47 has now cured this section 49 which has been used to rig before. So under the current section, all those who have warehoused INEC PVCs cannot use it anymore,” he said.

Igini added that “Today, people must take note of the following, when you get to the polling unit, no more incident form, you can no longer talk about manual accreditation but what we have now is what we call the bimodal process.”

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