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Between the National ID Card Figures and
Registered Voters Figures:
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the Big Fraud
by
Obinna Okoro
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We watched in amazement, the political artistry that unfolded in the recent effort to transit from Civilian to
Civilian government during the just concluded April 2003 general elections, especially the April 12 and 19, 2003
elections, We saw all the thuggery, We witnessed all the shooting, killings and maiming, We watched in amazement,
the act of ballot hijacking and stuffing, We were dazed by the level of violence and falsehood that characterized
the whole process of electioneering in the April 2003 general elections.
These indecent acts mentioned was part of the attitudes that made a complete mockery of the subject or rather the
sought after DEMOCRACY, which the world over holds with some kind of Sacredness, as it is said to be the only way
by which mankind would be liberated from oppression of leadership or is it rulership? Which said acts turned Democracy
into a laughable stock as far as the Nigerian version of the said democracy is concerned (Nigeria had never gotten
it right all the time).
The most shocking of all in this Political Theatre, is the scene performed by the King of the stage, the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), the dastardly, frivolous, callous, unbelievable and undemocratic manner with
which the INEC announced and tried to justify and further beautify the falsified results it exaggeratedly prepared
to suit a particular set of candidates of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) was the highest of all the
frauds that took place during these elections.
The said one sided 'victory' of the PDP over 29 other parties in what they referred to as Landslide Victories and
to which I would rather love to call Moonslide and Galaxyslide Victories, has occasioned outcries from many quarters,
including non-partisan organizations of both civil and religious bodies of both local and international status.
But wait a minute; every body seems to be commenting about the fraud which characterized these elections and the
spate of violence, gross malpractices and deaths that it left in its wake coupled with the fact that for the first
time in the history of Democracy and elections and electioneering processes the world over, the people the world
witnessed and beheld the mother of all rigging, the debasement of democracy, the abuse of trust of office, the
sell of conscience, the defeat of confidence and the abuse of being independent as it appears that for the first
time in human history of selecting representatives of the people, the electoral body was seen rigging elections
for a particular party in power to the chagrin, and amazement of the populace, the international community inclusive;
these mass rigging by the electoral commission believed to be truly independent produced in some case the outnumbering
of votes declared as against the actual number of registered or rather eligible voters (River State is a test cases).
But be this as it may, there seems to be vital questions everyone has never bothered or decided not to ask, is
it that it has not occurred to most of us or that we have not realized the situation, well I would love to use
this forum or medium to present this questions which I would love to call the questions of the moment. Because
this issue appears to be the real answer to the bogus act of electoral fraud perpetuated against the generality
of the Nigerian masses.
Now the questions are thus;
Have Nigerians seen the recently released figures of the recently concluded National ID cards project?
If yes! Then, don't we feel that there is a real fraud during the elections?
Don't we agree to the fact that since the National ID cards project attracted more people and lasted longer than
the voters registration exercise, that it should have a higher figure than voters' registration?
How come the total registered people number of National ID cards seeker is 52.03 million, while voters' number
soared to over 60 million?
How come between 1993 to 2003, the eligible number of Nigerian voters soared by ten times? (From 6 million voters
to over 60 million voters in a decade).
I posit that not even in developed Democracies like that of the United States of America and the United Kingdom,
has voting strength increased by ten times in ten years.
Now, with many questions that need urgent answers, it is very clear that the first and real fraud against the Nigeria
masses was not the April 2003 general elections, but the registration of voters. How would the Federal Authorities
come to reconcile these two exercises to the acceptance of the populace?
Considering the fact that National ID cards is more of importance to the masses than the voters card which was
not truly computerized, how come an exercise which saw some adamant people, who care less about national issue
responding to it occasioning it to be extended twice and later declared to be a continuous exercise record lower
figures of a staggering over 10 million less than the voters number? how also can the Federal Authorities explain
to the generality of Nigerians that a population which stands at an estimated 100 million people, going by the
1991 population census of 88.2 million people, recorded such tremendous figure of over 60 million eligible voters'
strength, if the figure is right, then among the remaining about 40 million people, how many are toddlers, enfant,
children, adolescents not to talk of the very aged whom we all know do not bother about voting but who turned out
for the ID cards project.
A little truth will do for the ragging electoral confusion in the country presently.
Remember, You can fool some people sometime, but you can't fool them all the time.
This advice is for the CONSCIENCE.
Obinna Okoro
Rescue Chambers, Port Harcourt.
Between the National ID Card Figures and
Registered Voters Figures: The Big Fraud
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