Mantu under fire over election rigging confession

Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, has reacted to the confession by a former Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, that he rigged election for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the past.

The organisation also supported plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to monitor the source of funds for campaigns by political parties and thwart the influence of illicit campaign monies in the electoral process.

Its Chairperson, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, in a statement, said: “As we wait for Senator Mantu and his co-travelers in the business of rigging elections to discharge their moral burden, we call on all stakeholders to be vigilant as the 2019 electoral process shapes up.

“He also has a patriotic duty to name all INEC staff, and members of the security agencies who participated in the various schemes aimed at subverting the vote of the people.

“While some may argue that those issues are in the past now, proper repentance and restitution implies that all those involved have to account for their actions.

“TMG makes no mistake about the fact that there are still vestiges of die-hard election riggers, who unlike Senator Mantu, may just not be ready to confess their infractions on the laws of the land.”

Akiyode-Afolabi said Mantu’s confessions deserve a deeper scrutiny from the authorities, if Nigerians were to get a sense of closure from the terrible events of the recent years, when politicians subverted the democratic choices and aspirations of Nigerians by corrupting the electoral process.

According to her, Mantu’s confession goes to the heart of the problem of morally bankrupt political leadership, which has been the cog of Nigeria’s nation building, since the return of democracy in 1999.

“The last time we checked, using bribes to tamper with the electoral process and all actions undermining the vote of the people, are crimes punishable by the extant laws of the land.

“Sections 124 and 130 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended make it punishable offences for anyone to pay or receive bribes to influence the outcome of elections.”