The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to not allow elections degenerate into a national security crisis.
In a statement signed by Joe Ajaero, the newly-elected national president of the congress, the NLC warned INEC to not fuel a crisis in the country whereby people take laws into their own hands.
It added that 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,” the statement read.
“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 NLC also warned INEC about the hazards of undermining the will of the people and added that Nigerians would not accept any result outside what had been uploaded.
“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 congress said.
“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.”
The presidential election was held on Saturday with a total of 18 candidates contesting for Nigeria’s highest office.
INEC began announcing election results of the 2023 presidential and legislative elections on Sunday.
Results for 14 states have been announced so far.
During the announcement of results on Monday, Dino Melaye, an agent of the People’s Democratic party (PDP), Emeka Ihedioha; an agent of the Labour Party (LP), amongst others staged a walkout over dissatisfaction on the process of the collation of results from state collation officers for the presidential election (SCOPs).
Foreign observers under the aegis of the National Democratic Institute (NDI)/International Republican Institute (IRI) have also called for sanction of perpetrators of violence in the elections.
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