Archbishop of Canterbury Charges INEC to Ensure Nigerians’ Votes Count

•Frank urges Nigerians to reject alleged manipulated results

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Justin Welby has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the ballots cast by Nigerians in Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections reflect the wishes of the citizens.

In a Tweet published on his official Twitter handle, he wrote: “Nigeria has voted, praise God for this grace. My prayer now is that counting and declarations are honest – and that the new President of this great nation serves all the people, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.”

INEC is presently collating the results nationwide and so far has announced the results for about 10 states.

Meanwhile, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has called on Nigerians to reject alleged large-scale manipulation of the results of the 2023 presidential and National Assembly election by INEC in collaboration with Nigeria’s security agencies.

Frank in a statement issued yesterday, alleged that INEC deliberately delayed the release of the presidential and National Assembly election results to give the ruling APC room to doctor the results to favour their candidates.

He said the commission, just like in 2019, allegedly upturned the will of the people by, “scientifically rigging the much anticipated poll whose outcome Nigerians had hoped would birth a new dawn in the country.”

Frank added: “What they told Nigerians is that results would be transmitted from the polling units to the server, as we speak, the results are not on the INEC’s server! What changed?” 

“INEC has scientifically rigged the election through deliberate delay in announcing results and failure to electronically transmit the results as promised.

 “They fraudulently ensured that APC won with very wide margin in states where they are popular while opposition parties could only manage a slim margin of win in states they are popular.

“The question INEC must answer is if the Presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu can be disgraced and defeated in his stronghold in Lagos State and his home state of Osun – how come he is being awarded huge vote figures in the northern parts of the country?

“We have also seen how state government officials in Rivers and Kaduna state have been intimidating INEC officials to upturn polls in favour of the ruling party.

“It is on record that election results in Gombe and Bauchi States where the Peoples Democratic Party is clearly ahead are now being changed in favour of the APC,” he said.

Frank recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari promised to leave a legacy of free, fair and credible elections, but alleged that the, “ongoing manipulation of election results and thwarting of the expressed will of Nigerians in Saturday’s election was highly reprehensible.”

“Posterity will judge him as the President who conducted the most fraudulent election in the history of the country and that is what he will be remembered for after leaving office,” Frank said.