Monsurat
Popular Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Adichie has written to the United States President Joe Biden and other members of the international community for endorsing Nigeria’s president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of APC.
In the open letter to President Biden, Chimamanda said the electoral commission defaulted on its assurance to Nigerians as contained in the recently amended 2022 Electoral Act. She strongly expressed her dissatisfaction over the process of the presidential election conducted on February 25.
She wrote “A law passed last year, the 2022 Electoral Act, changed everything. It gave backing to the electronic accreditation of voters and the electronic transmission of results, in a process determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission.”
“…as vote counting began at INEC, representatives of different political parties –except for the APC protested. The results being counted, they said, did not reflect what they had documented at the polling units. There were too many discrepancies.”
“It seemed truly perplexing that, in the context of a closely contested election in a low-trust society, the electoral commission would ignore so many glaring red flags in its rush to announce a winner. (It had the power to pause vote counting, to investigate irregularities – as it would do in the governorship elections two weeks later.)
Adichie said “American intelligence surely cannot be so inept. A little homework and they would know what is manifestly obvious to me and so many others: The process was imperiled not by technical shortcomings but deliberate manipulation.”
She added “I hope, President Biden, that you do not personally share this cordial condescension. You have spoken of the importance of a ‘global community for democracy’ and the need to stand up for ‘justice and the rule of law’. A global community for democracy cannot thrive in the face of apathy from its most powerful member.”
“Why would the United States, which prioritizes the rule of law, endorse a president-elect who has emerged from an unlawful process? This Nigerian election was supposed to be different, and the U.S response cannot – must not- be business as usual.”
“Congratulating its outcome, President Biden tarnishes America’s self-proclaimed commitment to democracy. Please do not give the sheen of legitimacy to an illegitimate process. The Unite States should be what it says it is.”
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