THE Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that Nigerians may take laws into their hands if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not ensure last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly election results reflect the will of the people.

In a statement, the union warned of mass protest by Nigerians if the election umpire disappointed the nation.

NLC, in the statement signed by its newly-elected National President, Joe Ajaero, lampooned INEC for failing to upload the election results on its servers as required by the Electoral Act.

It said Nigerians would reject any result announced and not loaded on INEC’s server before announcement as required by law.

“A nation at the precipice like ours cannot be stoking fires in its house filled with dry straws. INEC should not be the one that will strike the match. Our worry is that when people’s will are subverted, they may be forced to take laws into their hands, and the stage seems to have been set for such conflagration, and all hands should be on deck to avert it. INEC may be doing more harm than SARS to our people if it continues on this present trajectory.

“We warn INEC and others not to allow this election to degenerate into a national security crisis. This is avoidable, and it is only by allowing the sovereign will prevail that we can guarantee national peace. The belief that it is going to be business as usual should be discountenanced as the tension since after the casting of votes should be enough signal to anybody planning a heist of the vote. It is crucial that INEC samples the pulse of the people out there before embarking on any action. We will surely not keep quiet!”

The union alleged that INEC colluded with some politicians, security agents to compromise the election and subvert the people’s will.

NLC said INEC conducted the election shoddily and would be held responsible for all the poll’s shortcomings.

According to the group, INEC failed to justify the enormous resources it got from the Federal Government to conduct the poll, stressing that there has been no change to how the Commission conducted past elections adjudged to be poorly done.

It recalled the threats and attacks by thugs on Lagos and Rivers voters, leading to their disenfranchisement in the last Saturday’s poll.

“The bloodletting, harassment, ballot box snatching and wilful destruction of election materials, especially in these two states, even in the presence of members of the security agencies and INEC officials, cannot be interpreted any other way except that of collusion. It calls for urgent investigation and action to reassure the people of their safety as the election runs its course.”

The group maintained that INEC must understand that not uploading election results to its server expeditiously as expected would create an avoidable confidence crisis and imperil the entire process.

“The NLC feels compelled to warn INEC and the security agencies of the dangers of subverting the sovereign will. They are the umpire in this election and must be seen as above board and acting within the ambits of the law and its guidelines. The deliberate frustration of the BVAS remains unacceptable, and any result outside of what is transmitted or contained in it is not acceptable to Nigerians.

“NLC calls on all Nigerian workers and citizens to be on alert to protect our nation from the hands of those who have foisted the current suffering on us and now clearly want to subvert our collective will as expressed in this election cycle. It is our civic responsibility to protect democracy and, indeed, our nation.”

NLC also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call INEC to order. It said doing would prove the president did not endorse the Commission’s handling of the election.

The ICIR reports that three candidates have been leading at the presidential election. They are the APC’s Bola Tinubu, Peoples’ Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party’s Peter Obi.

The ICIR also reports that NLC had endorsed Obi before the election.

As of the time of filing this report, INEC had yet to announce the results of the election in many states.

Marcus FATUNMOLE

Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected].