A lawyer,Mr Michael Akinyemi has warned the leadership and members of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) against conducting elections pending the determination of the suit No FHC/L/CS/278/2022 between Engineer Adekunle Makinde vs The Nigerian Society of Engineers, pending at the Federal High Court, Lagos concerning the association’s election.
Akinyemi of the Advoxa, Solicitors and Advocates, in a letter made available to newsmen in Lagos said he would ensure that the leadership of the NSE is committed to prison if the election is held against the orders of court.
According to the statement of claim, the NSE conducted its general elections on Dec.9, 2021 into its executive offices.
He said:”Despite being acclaimed as seriously rigged by certain individuals through the compromise of NSE database as declared on the floor of the AGM and confirmed by Election Committee and the Elections Appeal Panel thereafter, even with many members disenfranchised as they couldn’t vote, the flawed results were upheld by the NSE.
“Despite the upholding of the flawed general elections, the NSE inaugurated the winners of the elections except only one, the winner of the office of Vice President (South West).Thereafter, NSE without any legal justification attempted to conduct a bye-election into the office of Vice President (South West), against its memart which indicates that a winner emerges based on simple majority, even if the winning margin is one vote.
“NSE is thus inadvertently indicating that the winner being denied his mandate might be the election hacker! Of course, this is without any proof or any report indicating such.
“The winner of the election of the office of Vice President (South West) then approached the federal high court, Lagos to seek redress and recover his mandate, while others alleged criminal conducts against the leadership of the NSE and petitioned the DSS.Several months down the line, the NSE has defied the extant orders of court and has scheduled the holding of the election for the 17th November, 2022.
“It was gathered that one year after inviting the Department State Security (DSS) to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the rigged elections, the department has not submitted their findings.
“Could this be another case of the more you look the less you see, or some compromise?
“The Board of Trustees (BOT) of the NSE, being the supposed conscience of NSE, invited the election winner to a peace meeting with a view of settling the issue out-of-court.
“The BOT thereafter advised the NSE to restore the winner’s mandate and swear him in as the duly elected Vice President (South West) but the recalcitrant and compromised leadership, which seem already favoured by the warped and flawed process simply refused to heed the wise counsel.
“BOT directed them to restore his mandate but they refused. Instead of doing the needful, they are planning to conduct another election so as to cover up their atrocities, and swear in another person.
“Meanwhile, it is on good authority that the NSE’s compromised database still remains the way it was, even as DSS seems to have either failed in unravelling the simple issue of rigged electronic voting amongst Engineers one year after.
“As such, it could be simply deduced that peradventure the scheduled November 17th election holds at all, the results would have been predetermined by the same forces that have entrenched themselves in NSE as the rigging cabal over the years.There is an electoral regulation of the NSE guiding the elections and it is clear that the NSE have done wrong things,” he said.
It was reported that NSE elections held on Dec. 9, 2021 was cancelled by the immediate past President of NSE Babagana Mohammed, over an alleged “criminal cyber breach”.
The former President, who addressed journalists on Dec. 22, 2021 in Abuja, ordered a cancellation, alleging that the cancelled election was marred by more flaws and criminal cyber breaches.