By Felix Ekwu
A foremost Niger Delta leader, Dr Julius Babogha, has said the outcomes of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria would mark a turning point in the country’s political development after 62 years of the nation’s independence.
In an exclusive interview with NewsNet Nigeria, on Nigeria’s 62nd Independence Day anniversary, Babogha said his hope in the nation’s electoral process has been rekindled by certain innovations including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
He noted so far the deployment of the BVAS by INEC in the conduct of elections in states like Edo, Ondo, Anambra and Osun to a large extent made the outcomes of the elections to be transparent and credible.
According to him, the BVAS has also drastically reduced litigations from outcomes of elections conducted by INEC adding that with further improvement on it the experiences so far the 2023 general elections would be a far departure from previous general elections in the country.
“I have faith that the elections are going to be correctly conducted this time around given the fact that with the BVAS and other innovations by the nation’s electoral umpire, we should be having a good electioneering process this period.
“It is not going to be like in the past where palm kernel is used for thumb printing ballot papers because the system requires your physical presence. My hope in the electoral process is rekindled from what I see and from what is on ground. We are going to have more sanity in the process this period,” said Babogha.
In addition, Babogha said preparations for the 2023 general elections have been more competitive among the political parties, the aspirants for various positions and the electorates when compared to the past.
He noted that “What we will be expecting now is the real genuine way of election. In the history of civilian or democratic government in Nigeria candidates of political parties have not been tasked like what we are experiencing today.
“I think there is some measure of sanity in our electoral process this period. And if we continue this way, it will be different unlike in the past when people are handpicked by an individual who said this is the man going to represent us.
“So many people are now conscious of their rights. So many of them want good governance. There is some kind of revolution going on now such that people are now, what is the essence of collecting money and voting against my conscience and at the end of the day for the next four years you see that the man you voted for doesn’t care about you? People are getting more conscious every day.”
On the nation’s 62nd Independence Day anniversary Babogha said, “What we just need is good governance. Once the government is up and doing everybody will feel the impact of independence. But, if we continue in this way I am afraid we might end up even asking the British to come and colonise us again.
“Above all, we should have hope in the government and in our people. All hope is not lost. We should be happy. Somehow independent or semi-independent, whichever way we view it, independence is independence.
“What we should be reflecting on is how to consolidate the independence. Time to reflect on our achievements. Time to reflect on our failures. All these things we must put into consideration. It calls for celebration of a kind, but at the same time, we cannot say we are celebrating because we are not yet independent. It is ‘Not yet Uhuru’.”
