Beadysworld Changing mindset
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…Intersociety
…vows to remain undistracted and continuously deepen democracy and rule of law in Nigeria
…advises those that felt omitted from the exemption list to publicly give an account of their electoral stewardship
Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria, Tuesday, 28th March 2023
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has been receiving cowardly, life-threatening, and distracting calls from agents of professors and others alleged to have been involved in the armada of electoral fraud that characterized the “2023 Presidential, Senatorial, and House of Reps, Governorship and State House of Assembly elections”.
There are also commendation calls to us within and outside Nigeria thanking us at Intersociety for being resilient and resolute in our advocacy activities geared toward deepening democracy, rule of law, and human rights in Nigeria or any part thereof.
Several calls have been coming to us in torrents from persons or agents suspected to be holding brief for the alleged poll manipulators by threatening the lives of our principal officers unless we ‘withdraw the statement against their principals capable of denying them western visas, international exchange programs and other international border engagements especially Europe and North America.
The worst part is that 80% of the callers have no iota of remorse for what their principals have done (collectively partaking in the rigging of the 2023 polls); to the extent of exonerating their principals and blaming their dark roles on ‘Nigerian bad leadership and corruption’.
Setting The Record Straight
Intersociety had in its special report of 26th March 2023, invoked a doctrine of ‘collective responsibility’ after it had thoroughly investigated and identified various collective negative roles played by the 88 expert individuals including 54 serving and retired university professors and 34 others in the 25th Feb and 18th March polls.
Their collective responsibility roles are in three categories of direct, conspiratorial, and vicarious liabilities. While 84 of the listed expert individuals were found to have shared collective responsibility in the alleged rigging, only four expert individuals were singled out for exemption and celebration as ‘heroes of Nigeria’s Democracy 2023’.
It must be clearly pointed out that nowhere in the statement did Intersociety apportion ‘individual responsibility’ to any of the listed 50 professors/vice-chancellors or any of the 34 others or hold any of them individually responsible or liable. Their names were only listed as ‘collective partakers’.
That is to say, the crux of our findings was that the INEC as an institution coordinated the widespread rigging of the 2023 polls and all its key substantive and ad hoc officials including the Commission’s National Chairman, 12 National Commissioners, 37 State Resident Commissioners, the Commission’s Director of ICT and its hired 37 (exception of three of them and the professorial Abia REC) expert-State Collation Officers should be collectively accountable or liable.
This is what we meant by ‘invocation of the doctrine of collective responsibility’. Also under the ‘vicarious liability principle’, State Collation Officers are accountable for acts and infractions or misdeeds of their electoral ward and local government Collation Officers just as INEC Chairman, National Commissioners, and State Resident Commissioners are vicariously responsible for acts and infractions of their subordinates on account of the former’s omissions and negligent conducts. Exceptions to the above are where steps are taken by INEC bosses to stop or forestall the infractions or misdeeds of their subordinates.
Overriding Public Interest And …
