Politics
POLLS RIGGING CONFESSION: Mantu may be dragged to court
A former deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, may have landed himself in trouble by his confession that he helped rig elections as a civil society group, OurMumuDonDo, led by Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charlyboy, on Friday demanded for his prosecution.
The group stormed the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, protesting and calling on the commission to immediately prosecute Mantu for electoral malpractices.
Mantu, a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member had recently confessed that he used to help his former party rig elections by bribing officials of INEC as well as security agents.
He had said, “Let me tell you one thing, yes I did. I am now confessing the truth. What do I need? I don’t have to go and change election… but you know, when you provide money, you give money to INEC boys to help you, if they see any chance, they should favour you. You (also) provide money to the security.”
Sequel to this confession, the group in a letter to the INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmood, said that Mantu must be arraigned for allegedly “subverting the will of the people during several elections.”
“This is a good opportunity for the electoral commission to demonstrate its resolve to prosecute electoral offenders as a deterrent to others.
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“As we have mentioned in our previous engagements with the INEC, the number of Nigerians going to the polling booths has been in a consistent decline since 2003 and the reason for this, among other disturbing factors, is the downright rigging of elections — a vile act which blatantly infringes on the right of the Nigerian people to freely exercise their franchise.
“It is therefore imperative that the electoral umpire, the INEC, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the law enforcement agencies, rise to this clarion call to prosecute Senator Mantu and all his accomplices,” OurMumuDonDo letter read.
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