Flag bearer of the Social Democratic Party in the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Kogi State, Natasha Akpoti, says the visa ban on election riggers in Kogi State should be extended to principal officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
She said that this is necessary because of the ignoble roles they played in the Kogi election.
The SDP governorship candidate listed INEC officials, security operatives, and judges as officials who should be similarly sanctioned for their role during the election.
Akpoti made the call in a statement on Tuesday in her reaction to the United States’ visa ban on persons who undermined the last electoral processes in the state.
The SDP candidate commended the US government for its decision to place a visa ban on individuals who rigged Kogi elections and others.
According to her, “No doubt, the November 2019 election has set back Nigeria’s democracy decades of progress backwards and I do hope this ban is limited not only to the individuals in Kogi State Government but principals of institutions who were saddled with the responsibility to ensure free, fair and safe elections such as INEC.
“This action goes a long way to validate all claims my party and I made at the courts with regards to the gross irregularities of electoral processes amidst violence to install Yahaya Bello as governor of Kogi State.”
Akpoti said Nigerians should remember that the country doesn’t exist in isolation but as part of a community of third world countries whose actions shape her international relations with allies.