"I Voted Without Being Harassed": Nigerian in UK Shares Interesting Details about 2023 UK Local Election
- A UK-based Nigerian, Ikechukwu Onyia mocked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and politicians in the African country over the 2023 election
- Onyia described the recently-conducted general elections in Nigeria as a sham; saying that when he cast his vote in England on May 4, there was no intimidation
- The Peter Obi supporter prayed that Nigeria would get to a point where the country would be able to hold seamless elections
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Awka, Anambra State - A Nigerian indigene resident in the United Kingdom (UK), Ikechukwu Emeka Onyia, has mocked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and politicians in the West African country over the Saturday, February 25, 2023 general elections.
Ikechukwu Onyia, an ardent supporter of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, made the remark in a post on his Facebook page, after casting his vote in a local election in England, on Thursday, May 4.
Source: Twitter
The 2023 UK local elections were held on Thursday, 4 May 2023, in England, and will be held on Thursday, 18 May 2023, in Northern Ireland.
Legit.ng's regional reporter in Anambra, Mokwugwo Solomon, quoted Onyia as describing the recently-conducted general elections in Nigeria as a sham, saying that when he cast his vote in England on May 4, no one bullied him or tried to force him to vote against his wish, or even reminded him that he was not English.
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Onyia noted that the entire voting process took him about 3 minutes, saying that he voted at about 6pm, after close of work; adding that the situation was obviously at variance with the condition in Nigeria's recently held election, where people spent an entire day to cast their votes, while many left polling units injured, and some others killed.
Onyia prayed that Nigeria would get to a point where the country would be able to hold seamless elections.
Describing the processes he took to vote in the UK, Onyia wrote:
"2023 UK Local Election: I voted today (May 4th) without being harassed, even though I am a Nigerian. But in Nigeria, people were stopped from voting by political lunatics.
"I arrived at my polling station at 6:18 pm, and cast my vote by 6:20 pm. I was asked for my street name with house number, which I told them. They requested my for ID card which I showed them. They used it to check my name at the voters register which tallied with my name in their register.
"Then, I was issued a ballot paper which I took and went to a designated area and ticked the party I wanted to vote for, and slotted the ballot paper into a box.
"All these processes did not take a total of 3 minutes, even though I met 3 other voters when I got there. You won’t see anyone telling you to vote for Mr A or Mr B. Voting is open from 7 am to 10 pm. You just plan when you will have time between 7 am to 10 pm."
"Nobody said I should not vote in England because I am a Nigerian" - Onyia
He added:
"How did I register to vote? I registered through my phone online, and they sent my registration information to my house address. Very Simple. Nobody said that I should not vote in England because I am a Nigerian.
"But in my country, Nigeria, some of our citizens were stopped from voting because some lunatics said that they are not from a particular state, and the authorities were so weak to protect citizens and victims of this organized crime, which gave them the audacity to brutalize Nigerians in Nigeria, in the name of election.
"In Nigeria, to register for vote is stress. To collect your PVC is another issue; to vote is another issue.
"I pray that Nigeria will get it right one day. Oh, Nigeria!"
Result of Nigeria's presidential election disputed
Officials declared Bola Tinubu Nigeria's election winner. But some Nigerians question INEC.
Many young urban Nigerians had pinned their hopes on Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party. Obi emerged third.
Proponents of the Labour Party and another opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have marched in Abuja against an alleged list of problems with the Saturday, February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.
INEC Chairman gets fresh call to resign as youth group head to UN
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that youths under the aegis of the Free Nigeria Movement reiterated its calls for the arrest of the chairman of INEC Professor Mahmood Yakubu, over the conduct of the 2023 general election.
The group made the call on Thursday, April 20, at the United Nations (UN) office in Abuja to mark the 30th day of its ongoing protest of the polls, which was attended by Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
