The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has said elections in Nigeria are often manipulated because citizens fail to take ownership of the electoral process and protect their votes.
Obi stated this during a recent visit to Washington, D.C. in a video wchich started trending on Saturday, where he spoke on the challenges facing Nigeria’s democracy and the role of citizens in ensuring credible elections.
According to the former Anambra State governor, politicians alone cannot guarantee free and fair elections unless voters are determined to defend the sanctity of their ballots.
“Elections are rigged in Nigeria because Nigerians want it to be rigged. It’s as simple as ABC. I will do whatever is possible to protect the votes, but unless Nigerians decide that their votes will count, it will not count,” he said.
Obi urged voters to remain at their polling units after casting their ballots and monitor the counting process rather than leaving immediately after voting.
“If you vote and you stay in your polling booth and say that the votes must be counted here, it will be counted, but because our politics is transactional, the average Nigerian doesn’t know who is his problem.
“So, an average Nigerian will vote and then go home or go to night vigil, whilst his night vigil should actually be to stay and let them count his votes. But he will vote and go to night vigil on Saturday and start praying because he thinks he is the only one that God created, that God will solve all his problems,” he said.
The former governor maintained that Nigeria’s biggest challenge remains poor leadership, arguing that the country possesses abundant human and natural resources needed for development.
“The question you all should ask yourselves today is: what is the problem of Nigeria? Nigeria has only one problem, leadership. Political leadership. Every other thing God gave to Nigeria.
“I can tell you that Nigeria is more blessed than this country. So, if Nigerians know that their problem is leadership, they will address it and insist on getting good leadership. So everybody should be part of protecting that vote,” he added.
Obi stressed that safeguarding the electoral process should not be left to politicians alone, noting that meaningful change would only come when citizens actively participate in defending their votes and demanding accountable leadership.
Watch the video below:
𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎: 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐈𝐭 – 𝐎𝐛𝐢
Credit: X | ChuksEricE
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