US-based lawyer commends Osun election, offers technical assistance to INEC
International human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe has hailed the outcome of the recent Osun state gubernatorial election as an indicator that elections are not all but dead in Nigeria after all.
In a statement released from Washington, the award winning lawyer and pro democracy icon said, “People were too quick to write off the new INEC Chair Prof J Amupitan, SAN and last weekend’s election is a testament that democratic hasn’t been extinguished yet.
“Some governors reportedly received $10 million each to secure APC’s presidential electoral victory in their states in 2023.
“Some states reportedly received N200 billion ($130 million) each to join the ruling party likewise.
“The fact that Osun state: Refused the financial inducement to decamp to the ruling party; is a fellow Yoruba southwestern state as the ruler; is Tinubu’s home state and he still lost, is highly inspiring in and of itself as a David and Goliath (or Davido and Goliath) battle.
“We must now redouble efforts to concretize credible elections especially now that some are claiming dominance over free born citizens.
“I am thus re-proffering the proposal of a distinguished Nigerian medic and Benue-born prince to help INEC actualize the fullest system integrity of IREV which he invented but was stolen and subsequently bastardized by bad actors.”
On that note, his letter to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Amupitan, reads: “We are global counsel to Dr. Adah Obekpa, a patriotic and accomplished citizen in Diaspora who researched, devised and invented a mechanism for election transparency and integrity customized for Nigeria.
“After sharing the said intellectual property with INEC, in the desire to work together towards achieving free and fair elections to enhance the nation’s democratic credentials and credibility, our client was circumvented, marginalized and deprived of his product and it was implemented in an untoward and improper manner that failed to achieve the desired effect.
“In light of the popular demand of the Nigerian electorate displayed this week in protests and the acquiescence of the legislature for electronic transmission of results, a critical component of our client’s invention, our client has retained us to reach out to you to propose a resolution of his ongoing litigation against INEC regarding the violation of his intellectual property (see recent hearing notice below).
“In view of your stature as the first law professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria to occupy this office, our client believes that you are well suited to redress the injustice done to him and the electorate.
“Therefore as a sign of goodwill towards the nation and your tenure, we wish to propose settlement talks with a view to assisting you fully, properly and credibly implement the election systems integrity mechanisms in future elections.
“We urge that you expeditiously institute a review of our case pursuant to settlement talks. INEC cannot be seen to be fair to the public if it does not show fairness to it’s partners.”
