Published 17th Aug, 2021

By Damilola Ayeni

On Friday, March 30, 2018, Ibrahim Mantu, a former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, revealed on national television how he had helped his party rig elections.

It was few months to the 2019 general election and Mantu, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was a guest on Channels Television’s ‘Hard Copy’.

“We make provision for INEC, we make provision for security, we make provision for even agents of other political parties so that they will not raise any objection to whatever we are able to get,” he had said.

Asked if he was actually saying that he rigged elections, Mantu said, “Yes, yes, I did, because I’m now confessing the truth. I don’t have to go and change election (results) but when you provide money, you give money to INEC boys that if they see any chance they should favour you, you provide money to the security (personnel); I tell you, it’s not necessarily when I am contesting election but when my party sponsors a candidate, I will like that candidate to win the election.”

The revelation generated controversy on social media, especially Twitter, where people called for his immediate arrest and prosecution for rigging, a criminal offence in Nigeria.

Mantu was born in Chanso village, Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State on February 16, 1947. He joined politics in 1978, and in 1993 became the Director-General of the National Republican Convention’s Presidential Campaign Organisation. He was elected Senator representing Plateau Central Senatorial District in 1999 and served as Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President between 2003 and 2007.

In the early hours of Tuesday, 74-year-old Mantu died at a private hospital in Abuja after a few days of admission.

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