Group storms INEC office, demands Mantu's prosecution over alleged electoral malpractices
A coalition of civil society group, #OurMumuDonDo, on Friday, April 6, stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission headquarters in Abuja, to demand for the prosecution of a former deputy Senate president, Ibrahim Mantu
- A non-governmental group, #OurMumuDonDo, has called for prosecution of former deputy Senate president Ibrahim Mantu
- Mantu had last week confessed that he helped PDP rig elections in the past
- The group said that Mantu's confession is an opportunity for INEC to demonstrate its resolve to prosecute electoral offenders as a deterrent to others
A coalition of civil society group, #OurMumuDonDo, on Friday, April 6, stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission headquarters in Abuja, to demand for the prosecution of a former deputy Senate president, Ibrahim Mantu, for alleged electoral malpractices.
The Punch reports that the group, in a letter to the INEC chairman, said the former Peoples Democratic Party chieftain should be arraigned for allegedly “subverting the will of the people during several elections.”
READ ALSO: Local vigilantes allegedly prevent SARS operatives from arresting Melaye
NAIJ.com gathered that Mantu had, in an interview on Channels TV, confessed that he rigged several elections for his former party, PDP, by inducing electoral officers to falsify results and to violate the electoral laws.
His admission had triggered reactions from the PDP, which refuted his claims and also disowned him.
But the coalition in their letter demanded Mantu’s prosecution, noting that “this is a good opportunity for the electoral commission to demonstrate its resolve to prosecute electoral offenders as a deterrent to others.”
It read: “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.”
A member of the coalition, Adebayo Raphael, argued that Nigerians have lost trust in the electoral system, adding that only a proper overhaul of the system could restore public confidence in the system.
“Nigerians have completely lost trust in the electoral system, so we are hoping that by this patriotic act by #Ourmumudondo, the INEC, the AGF and other law enforcement agencies would sanitise the system.
PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigeria’s #1 new app
“We submitted a letter to INEC and we are hoping to get a response from them,” he said.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that a former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, Ibrahim Mantu, has revealed how he helped his party to win elections in the past.
Channels TV reported that Senator Mantu, who was a senator on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ‘confessed the truth’ during an interview on Hard Copy, a Channels Television programme that airs on Friday, March 30.
VP Osinbajo at the Business Forum in Abuja: APC-PDP stand-off gets even more heated | - on Naij.com TV
Source: Naija.ng