By Peter Ejiofor
Lagos, May 9, 2023: Some Nigerians in South Africa under the aegis of the Labour Party South Africa, have protested to the Nigerian Mission in that country and the international community to pressurise the Federal Government to save Nigeria’s democracy.
They made the call in a Memorandum of Protest which they presented to the Nigeria Mission as they marched to the Nigerian House on Tuesday in Pretoria.
The protest is coming on the heels of the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal which began Pre- Hearing Sitting in Abuja on Monday.
Their memorandum, which had six demands, was signed by Mr Samuel Ikechukwu Eze, Chairman, and Mr Austin Kedi, Secretary of the party respectively.
The people demanded that the federal government took a strong stance against the stolen election and to use all available diplomatic means to rectify this situation.
“To support our demand for a transparent and fair investigation into the election, observed by independent bodies and governments, and for the results to be annulled as evidence of election fraud, rigging and intimidations is found throughout the election process.
“To issue a statement to compel the Election Tribunal to conduct a free and fair process to uphold justice.
“To issue a statement to compel the Tribunal allow the court process to be televised for the citizens of Nigeria to monitor it to ensure transparency.
“To reach out to the current Nigerian government to forestall the inauguration of the newly selected president pending the outcome of the Election Tribunal process.
“To consider imposing sanctions on our country if our government fails to address these issues,’’ the memorandum said.
“We believe that democracy is essential to the well-being of our country and that the international community has a responsibility to support it. We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.’’
It added that “we, the undersigned citizens of Nigeria living in South Africa, are writing to express our deep concern regarding the recent election that took place in our country.
“We believe that the election was stolen and that the results do not reflect the will of the people.’’
The group said that some of the evidences of electoral fraud were overwhelming and had been widely reported in the media:
“1. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/28/world/africa/nigeria-election-challenges.html; 2. European Union Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2023 SECOND . 3. 2023 Elections: What International Observers said about the 2023 …).
“There were numerous irregularities in the voting process, including the manipulation of voter rolls and the use of fake ballots.
”We also received reports of voter intimidation and violence at polling stations.
“Some of these atrocious experiences were witnessed by some of the people here in the crowd, foreign observers and the media.
“We believe that the international community has a responsibility to hold our government accountable for this theft of democracy. The consequences of inaction, if Nigeria loses her democracy, will be enormous.
”The ripple effect will be felt by every nation in the world in different forms, including but not limited to massive exodus of humans from the country.
“Untold suffering of those that will remain in Nigeria, escalated kidnapping of women and children that will make the current situation a child’s play. This will enable and exacerbate terrorist activities within and outside the borders of Nigeria.’’
