Kenneth Okonkwo, former presidential campaign spokesperson for the Labour Party (LP), has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating the 2023 general election results. Okonkwo, in a recent appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, claimed that all the votes recorded for Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election were “written” and “allocated” to him by INEC, rather than accurately reflecting the will of the people.
Okonkwo’s accusations have added fuel to the ongoing controversy surrounding the results of the presidential election. The former LP spokesperson argued that Obi’s victories, including a significant lead in Lagos State, were subsequently altered, and his votes reduced by the electoral body. He went further to claim that the results in Rivers State were manipulated, allegedly in favor of Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding Tinubu’s election, which ended the legal battle over the results, Okonkwo insists that the underlying issue of vote manipulation remains unresolved. “The court is not disputing the fact that the results were written,” Okonkwo remarked. “The court simply stated that the evidence presented wasn’t substantial enough to alter the outcome.” His statement challenges the court’s verdict, maintaining that evidence of rigging exists but could not be presented in a manner that would meet the legal standards required to overturn the election results.
The claims made by Okonkwo go beyond mere election day irregularities, pointing to systemic issues with how results were handled by INEC. He highlighted the failure of the electoral body to upload the results from polling units to its public portals, as mandated by the law. More than two years after the election, this lack of transparency has fueled public distrust in INEC and raised questions about the integrity of the election process.
A central part of Okonkwo’s argument is the inability of political parties to assign polling agents to every polling unit across the country. While he acknowledged that the Electoral Act recognizes that not all parties have the resources to deploy agents to each unit, he expressed concern over why such a provision is necessary if INEC was truly impartial and transparent. “Why do you need agents if the system is operating under INEC, an INEC that is not corrupt and will not manipulate results?” he questioned.
Okonkwo’s remarks point to a larger issue of electoral financing. He criticized INEC for receiving an enormous budget of ₦400 billion to conduct the election, implying that such a significant sum should have ensured the smooth running of the process and avoided the alleged irregularities. His claims suggest a deeper frustration within the Labour Party and other opposition groups, who feel disenfranchised by the electoral process.
As the political climate continues to simmer, Okonkwo’s statements serve as a reminder of the contentious nature of the 2023 presidential election. Whether or not further investigations will be conducted into INEC’s practices remains to be seen, but for many Nigerians, the accusations have reignited the conversation around electoral reforms and transparency in the country’s election processes.
