President of Ijaw National Congress (INC) Worldwide, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, has faulted the National Assembly for rejecting electronic collation and transmission of election results, describing it as “another crack in the wall of Nigeria’s unity.”

He said the development indicated that those who do not want the interest of the country were still at work, stressing that the trust and confidence of Nigerians were being eroded daily.

Okaba lamented that the hope of those who anticipated electoral reforms have had been dashed, just as the country had returned to square one in terms of genuine electoral reforms.

He noted that fraudulent electoral processes had been the greatest challenge hindering the country from moving forward and achieving sustainable development and described the rejection as anti-democratic, retrogressive and pathetic.

Okaba, a professor of Sociology at the Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, made the assertion in Yenagoa, yesterday, at the first anniversary of the executive of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and unveiling of the office of its National Spokesman, Ebilade Ekerefe.

“Nigerians know that the day the votes of the people count and the choice of the people matter, a lot of things will change in this country and the key to having that is a transparent electoral process,” he said.

Okaba, who declared that Nigeria was on the precipice with the enemies of the country showing more impunity on daily basis, urged unity of the Ijaw people.

Speaking Ekerefe, noted that the Ijaw youths would work with the INC to realise the Ijaw cause, adding: We at the IYC will continue to complement the work of the INC.

“Since we started, despite the challenges of leadership, we have been conscious and cautious of our actions to make the Ijaw youths and our parents proud.”