The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has accused ECOWAS of double standards over its disposition to the disruption of the electoral process in Guinea-Bissau through a military coup.
Mr Obi, in his verified X handle on Sunday, said while ECOWAS was quick to condemn the Guinea-Bissau military-arranged glitch, it had remained silent on the technology glitch as witnessed in other countries.
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In the piece entitled: ‘Reflecting on the ‘Coup Glitches in Guinea-Bissau’, the former Anambra governor said that glitches of any type should be condemned, as they undermine democracy.
“On Thursday, November 27th, I arrived in Abuja early in the morning after attending a productive meeting at the European Parliament.
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“I listened carefully to the press briefing of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, as the former President, who was in Guinea-Bissau as an election monitor, noted that the so-called coup appeared suspicious.
Suspicious, especially because it was the president himself who announced the coup and shared details with the international community.
“What makes the situation even more striking is that the election was reportedly peaceful, with the only remaining step being the formal announcement of the results.
“ECOWAS was quick to sanction Guinea-Bissau, but what does ECOWAS do when democracy is subverted, not by soldiers, but by technology?” he queried.
Mr Obi also questioned the sub-regional body on whether there would be any punishment for any country that announced ‘glitches’ at critical moments during an election.
“Do we only condemn coups that are visible with guns and ignore those carried out through a designed technological failure?
“It is essential to recognise that whether technical or political, these challenges can undermine democracy, hinder progress and obstruct the rights of African citizens to freely elect their leaders,” he said.
According to him, true democracy flourishes in environments of transparency and accountability, where the voice of the people is paramount and not interrupted by unforeseen glitches or political manoeuvrings.
“By addressing these issues constructively, we can work towards a more stable and democratic West Africa. Together, we can ensure that the will of the people prevails and that our elections reflect the true desires of our citizens.
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“The Guinea-Bissau scenarios represent two faces of the same crisis: one where ballots are discarded by force and another where ballots are obstructed by convenient technical issues.
“In both cases, the people suffer, democracy is undermined, and the region sinks deeper into instability. The outcome remains the same: the citizens are denied their mandate,” the former governor said.
He noted that true democracy could only thrive in a situation where transparency and accountability prevailed, and the voice of the people was respected, not interrupted by glitches or coups.
(NAN)
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