2023 General election, most transparent – Ex-APC Youth leader

Former All Progressives Congress (APC) national youth leader and Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Social Investment Programme, Barr. Ismaheel Ahmed has described the just concluded presidential and governorship elections as the fairest and most transparent election in the history of Nigeria since democracy.

Barr. Ahmed was the youth representative in the Mai Mala Buni led Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

Recall that opposition parties especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) had accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating the electoral process in favour of the ruling APC.

But speaking at a meeting organised to commemorate his forty-three birthday celebration, the former youth leader stated that the just concluded 2023 elections is the best and an improvement on the last five elections since 1999.

According to him, the Presidential election is one that should be referenced to considering the fact that, for the first time, the ruling party lost in their ‘strong’ zones.

He said “INEC has done well because we have lost elections where we have never lost elections. We lost a presidential election in Lagos, we lost a presidential election in Yobe. It has never happened before. A government in power lost an election in Katsina state, a place where a son is a sitting president.

“The PDP won five out of the six state in the north east, it won four out of the seven state in the north west and what use to be the custom of the PDP which was the north central, we shared it between APC and the LP.

“We lost out completely or almost absent in the south east, we didn’t have major wins in the south south. PDP won in Osun State with a candidate of Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu sitting on the table.

“If you are looking for any practical reason for the genuineness and transparency of this election, you look no further in the 2023 elections. I think it should be a reference point”.

The former youth leader said although there might be grievances from opposition parties on the electoral process, they have the right to go to court.

He further stressed the need to strengthen the country’s electoral systems and structure for future elections.

Also, the National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Dayo Israel, noted that the just concluded elections revealed how significant and powerful the voices of the people are.

For the Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to achieve success, he stressed that communication and engagement is key to be able to meet the actual needs of the people, especially those at the grassroots.