‘One Day I Would Like To See Politicians Go To Jail’ – Pat Utomi

A member of the Movement for Credible Elections, Professor Pat Utomi, has warned that Nigerians could be forced to take matters into their own hands if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refuses to allow the use of technology to improve transparency during elections.

Naija News reports that Utomi said preventing voters and observers from using devices to livestream proceedings at polling units would undermine efforts to ensure credible elections.

The political economist stated this on Arise News on Tuesday, while advocating greater use of technology in Nigeria’s electoral process.

Utomi argued that election monitoring should not depend solely on political party agents, saying technology could provide citizens with direct access to events at polling stations.

He cited the United Kingdom and the United States, where, according to him, election results are widely monitored and reported by the media without the public necessarily knowing the identity of the electoral commission chairman.

Utomi said, “Do you know who the chair of the electoral commission is in the UK? In the US, I have no clue. Results come from the media who are monitoring elections.

“The election should be technologised; body cams, live streaming from every polling booth in the country.

“If INEC tells us that people can’t bring things to make elections transparent, then they are criminals who want the elections not to be transparent.”

He also argued that technology could reduce the possibility of election results being manipulated at polling units where opposition parties might not have agents present.

According to him, political parties that cannot deploy agents to every polling unit remain vulnerable to having results allegedly written in their absence.

“Typically, what would happen if they have this strange phenomenon they call [party] agents? And a party that can’t have agents in one of all of the polling stations in the country is vulnerable to having results written where they are not present and stuff like that because a system doesn’t work,” he said.

Utomi said increased public awareness and collaboration among citizens could help ensure that votes are counted and protected.

“There’s a way that opposition can, and is currently collaborating, that will ensure that people are made aware that their votes can count.

“If people become aware that their votes can count, and they come out and vote, it’s not a 300,000 Nigerian police force that can prevent the people’s will from taking place,” he said.

Utomi also criticised the use of public resources for political campaigns, describing the practice as criminal.

He added, “One day I would like to see politicians go to jail for spending public money to run for office. I’m going to prosecute it in the international community someday because it’s thievery. Itis criminal, but they do it.

“They think that the state coffers is just to use to campaign. So, those who don’t have as much of that loot that belongs to the people to use can be more creative in the way they prevent elections from being abused.

“The election should be technologised: body cams, live streaming from every polling booth in the country, and if they don’t want it, let Nigerians take over their country.”