A former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mike Igini, has said that the 2023 general election will go down in history as one which returns political and democratic power to the people only if President Muhammadu Buhari and the security agencies can tackle the current insecurity in the country.

According to Igini, everything that would ensure a free, fair and credible election has been put in place but the issue of security has remained a major concern.

Igini’s claim was part of his 10-point new year message to Nigerians contained in a statement released to journalists.

“Today, there is the 2022 Act, INEC’s innovations exemplified by BVAS and IREV results upload but the only serious issue of concern to Nigerians and the international community is security which is within the purview of the president as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

“In times and moments of despair, fear of uncertainty by citizens, keeping hope alive is a major battle cry of the leader. I urge the president to continue on this part of the charge to security agencies to maintain absolute neutrality as a statesman for the country to have a successful 2023 election that should lead to a peaceful transfer of power as the greatest legacy that history will record for him and so shall he be remembered by history.

Igini also charged the Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba to replicate the new election security strategies and successes recorded in the various off-season governorship elections in the country, adding that the exemplary professionalism displayed during the conduct of these elections has given Nigerians so much to hope for and expect in the 2023 elections.

The former REC also called on the electoral umpire to stand tall and mighty in the execution of its constitutional mandate to midwife the all-important democratic, free, fair and credible forthcoming elections for the consolidation of the nation’s democracy.

He said: “The job of an umpire is not for errant people but a public trust that must not be betrayed; there should be no surrender of the core values of integrity, impartiality, neutrality and professionalism. The commission should continue and remain true to these core values”.

While advising politicians to shun conducts that would undermine the integrity of the 2023 elections, he disclosed that, “shock, lamentation and dinosaur experience await any and all who depend on old methods of rigging elections given that all loopholes have been blocked by 2022 Act and INEC procedures”.

He called on those who have not collected their PVCs yet to do so, adding that the future direction of Nigeria is up to the people to decide in the coming election.

Igini further urged Nigerians not to dissolve into despair but resolve to act firmly by using the PVC in the forthcoming elections.

“Nigerians across the country must unite to achieve the task ahead this year 2023, with the courage of conviction by confronting self-doubt, we all can overcome our challenges and difficulties because our situation is not a sentence to a life of misery. “Whatever we hope for in the future cannot be a gift but something we must work for and achieve. We must invest the time on election day, however inconvenient,” he added.