Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, discussed the incident in Kogi Central where ballot papers were allegedly thumbprinted before being brought to the polling station, leading to voter protests. Falana emphasised that this action has nothing to do with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but is the result of politicians who disregard the democratic rights of the people.
During the interview with Channels Television, Falana pointed out that, despite the irregularities, the votes were still counted, and he raised a concern about the prevailing approach to addressing such issues, urging everyone to go to court. Falana expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of tribunals in determining matters they might not have witnessed firsthand.
According to him, “You saw what happened in Kogi Central, where ballot papers had been thumb-printed, right? And when they were brought, the voters protested. That has nothing to do with the independent National Electoral Commission. This was just the act of politicians who have no respect for the democratic rights of the people. But again, at the end of the day, the votes were counted, so what do you make of that? Oh, everybody should go to court. Again, we’re tasking the members of the tribunal that will be set up to determine matters they know nothing about because they were not on ground. When these monumental violations of the electoral act were committed by well-known people, nothing would happen. So these are the problems we have to address.
