Itse Sagay, chairman of the presidential advisory committee against corruption (PACAC), has described the February 25 presidential poll as the “best election” Nigeria has ever organised.
However, major opposition parties in the election have filed petitions to challenge the outcome of the election, accusing INEC of irregularities. They also cited issues of electoral violence and voter suppression.
He spoke while fielding questions on Channels Television Sunday Politics where he hailed the role of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the exercise.
While Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner of the presidential election, critics say the exercise was marred with violence. Top contenders like Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP)’s Peter Obi have challenged the outcome of the poll.
But Sagay maintained that the exercise was credible, citing APC’s loss in its Lagos State stronghold.
“In my personal opinion, in terms of representing the minds and wishes of Nigerians in an election, this is probably the best election we have had,” he said on the show.
The previous elections especially during other democratic dispensations were marred by irregularities, the senior lawyer said.
“So, we had good elections in 2011, 2015, and 2019. But in terms of representing or interpreting what Nigerians feel, it [2023]is the best election we have ever had,” Sagay said.
“If you look at the ways things have gone with the BVAS (Bimordal Voter Accreditation System), the very idea that the APC was defeated in Lagos, that should make you realise immediately that these are very credible elections. If you go through the whole country, it is the same sort of accuracy and reflection on the feelings of Nigerians.”
The senior lawyer also called on President-Elect Bola Tinubu to tackle insecurity and also halt the removal of fuel subsidies among others.
While the Federal Government has pegged June 2023 as the date for the removal of fuel subsidy, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) believes the move should be halted by the incoming administration.
“The first thing is security. We have to make this country secure so that we can do our farming, and go about our businesses without fear. The terrorism [carried out] by these people coming from the forest to destroy us is unbearable. That’s first,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“The second thing he has to do is with the economy of the country. Petroleum, for example, I do not agree that the subsidy should be removed without us producing refined petrol in this country. Let him not be deceived.
“Anyone telling him to remove subsidy is trying to ground his party and make him unpopular. The subsidy must continue until refineries begin to work. Now, when we start producing petrol in the country, the cost of petroleum products will drop sharply because most of these costs are due to transport.”
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyers