If there is one area of life in which the Nigerian people are lacking in abundance despite its rich endowments both in human and natural resources, but has resulted in it becoming a laughing stock in the comity of nations, it is the reprehensible, ridiculous and irresponsible conduct of our political class who have learnt nothing about responsibility and civility since the return to civil rule in 1999.
Everyday, the average Nigerian politician constitutes a public nuisance and a denigration of our values, honour and integrity with their utterances and conduct which is at variance with rationality.
The present state of affairs of the country today, is a fallout of how the people's resources has been poorly managed and culminated in governments inability to meet up with its constitutional responsibility of the amelioration of the human condition.
Following the conclusion of the 2016 Edo state gubernatorial election held on the 28th of September, 2016 and the announcement of results by the electoral umpire as stipulated by law, a major political party is calling for the total cancellation of the exercise on the grounds that the results announced by the electoral umpire does not tally with the ones submitted by its agents and what is on the social media platforms.
What a shame that we can be so ridiculed by these politicians who have turned politics which is serious business and about the allocation of the peoples resources for a better life, into a drama show of the absurd.
For our information, the 2016 gubernatorial election in Edo state was conducted in public in polling units across 192 wards in 18 local governments and the results were publicly announced in the presence of all and endorsed by the party agents at that level, who appended their signatures.
Then, the polling units results were transferred to the wards for collation of which the INEC ward collation officer in conjunction with the parties ward agents and security agents, appended their signatures to confirm that, truly, the ward result is an affirmation of what took place in the polling units comprised in the ward.
The ward collation officer of INEC now takes the signed ward results to the local governments collation centre, where the Electoral Officers (EO) and the local government Returning Officers (RO) in conjunction with the parties local government agents signs the collated result, if they are satisfied with the tabulation for onward transmission to the state collation centre which is the final phase of INEC duties with regards to the election.
Mind you, it is only in the polling units, that ballot papers are counted and results announced, followed by endorsements from the political parties agents and security officials. At every other stage of the process from ward to local government, to state collation, it is only the results from each level till the state collation stage that are added up through calculation.
Thus, if a political party agents has signed the result sheets of an election from the polling units, all the way to the wards, local governments without proof of being forced to do so at any of these levels, only for the political party state collation officer to be raising dust about the results on the grounds of difference in the results with its party agents who if we recollect, signed the INEC collated results voluntarily and on the social media, speaks volume about absolute disregard for legitimate process and an assault on the collective integrity of the people by the party.
To even mention the social media as a basis of its rejection of the election results is incredible and shows clearly that this party has lost touch with the reality of fact that, INEC is the only constitutionally recognized authority on not only the conduct of elections in Nigeria, but also with regards to the announcement of result.
This party reduction of the seriousness of our electoral system to social media matters is very unfortunate, preposterous and condemnable.
From all intent and purposes, this election has been generally adjudged as peaceful, orderly and credible by stakeholders, but if anybody or party is aggrieved which is natural, they must be admonished to seek the civilized option of going to court with their facts which one hopes will also include the results from the social media from sources other than INEC, rather than taking us all for a ride by the resort to uncivilized means including comedy show.
Anyway, one can only wish them, goodluck.
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