The AAC presidential aspirant described Nigerian security agents as the major perpetrators of election rigging in the country.
Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) for the 2023 general elections has alleged that the Nigerian government in 2019 recruited operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to rig the election that brought in Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State for a second term in office.
Sowore made the allegation while speaking at the programme tagged “Curbing Vote Buying, Apathy & Other Electoral Irregularities: A Panacea To A Successful 2023 Election,” organised by Advocacy for Good Ethics/Accountability For Development.
The AAC presidential aspirant described Nigerian security agents as the major perpetrators of election rigging in the country.
Justifying his claim, the human rights activist and #RevolutionNow convener said, “When I was in detention, they came and recruited DSS officials to go to Kogi State in 2019 to rig the election for Yahaya Bello.
“I am saying this and I like mentioning names so that nobody will say that Sowore did not say who he is talking about.
“Yahaya Bello did not win the election in Kogi State. This was the worst rigged election.”
Speaking further on how Nigeria’s electoral process has deteriorated.
He noted that many Nigerians have lost interest in the electoral process, especially voting because of safety as many are not only worried about whether their votes will count but whether they will return home safely from polling units.
Sowore said, “Decent Nigerians have lost confidence in democracy and electoral politics and politicians are very happy to understand that Nigerians no longer have interest in democracy.
“So, they have been practising what I refer to as "morontocracy", that is government of morons, by morons and for morons.
“That is why you see that during elections, motor park touts are more powerful than commissioners in the states because they hold sway on election day.”