Taiwo Amodu, Taofeek Lawal and Osaretin Osadebamwen
POLLING agents of dominant opposition political parties on Monday challenged the authenticity of results being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.
Senator Dino Melaye, who is the polling agent for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had raised observations before the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, asked the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Kwara State to proceed with announcement of results from the North-Central state.
Senator Melaye had alleged over-voting in results presented from the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State.
He said: “I worked on the results as presented and I discovered that we have 987,647 registered voters in Ekiti and 301,558 accredited.
“The results were presented yesterday [Sunday], APC had 201,494. If you subtract that from 301,558, what you have left is 100,064. Out of this 100,064, PDP scored 89,554. If you subtract that from the balance of 100,064, what is left is 10,510, and now it was also recorded that the Labour Party had 12,397 when the total left is 10,510. Meaning an over figure of 887.
“Apart from this 887 surplus, we have not calculated the votes of other political parties. Because you will recall that yesterday [Sunday] he told us that ADC scored 1,027.
“You will see from that presentation yesterday that the figure did not add up, there was over-voting and the number of votes outnumbered the number of accredited voters and we know exactly what the law says concerning that. Senator Melaye premised his argument on provisions of Section 65 of the Electoral Act.
Meanwhile, the PDP has officially rejected the results of the presidential election released so far by INEC, saying its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has garnered more votes than his APC counterpart, Bola Tinubu, going by the results at the disposal of the party.
PDP’s national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement entitled: “PDP To INEC: Halt Announcement of Manipulated Results Now, Electoral Commission Pushing Nigerians To The Wall” said as a creation of the law, the electoral body must obey the law.
Reading from a prepared speech, Ologunagba said INEC is aiding and abetting the rigging and manipulation of the election results in favour of the APC and its presidential candidate.
He said: “It is very clear from the votes as cast at the polling units across the country, that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, substantially defeated the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in line with the expressed aspiration and Will of Nigerians.
“However, it is alarming that INEC is aiding and abetting the rigging and manipulation of the election results in favour of the APC by flagrant and provocative violation of the express provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 by refusing and neglecting to transmit directly the results of the elections from the Polling Unit to the INEC Server/Website as required by law.
“For clarity, Section 64 (4) (b) of the Electoral Act, 2022 specifically provide thus:
“A collation officer or returning officer at an election shall collate and announce the result of an election subject to his or her verification and confirmation that the –
(b) “votes stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the votes or results recorded and transmitted directly from Polling Units under Section (60) (4) of this Act”.
“Consequent on the above Section 60 (4) of the Electoral Act 2022, any result announced by INEC is ultra vires, illegal, and of no consequence unless they are results already transmitted DIRECTLY from the Polling Units. So procedurally, INEC cannot continue to announce results that are yet to be transmitted as expressly stated in the relevant Sections of the Electoral Act.
“The integrity of this election has been compromised and vitiated by the admission of INEC officials that there was a technical glitch in the midst of the election which affected the effective functioning of the BVAS machines.
“Furthermore, the integrity of the chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, is at stake having regard to his multiple representation and assurances to Nigerians and the International Community that the Electoral Act 2022, is a game changer that will guarantee a free, fair and transparent electoral process especially as it relates to the direct transmission of election results from polling units at all elections.
“It is therefore curious that the INEC Chairman will insist on proceeding with the announcement of election results which are not transmitted directly from the Polling Units to the INEC Server/Website as required by the Electoral Act.
“Information at our disposal indicates that INEC deliberately refused to commence the process of announcement of results more than 48 hours after the close of election and collation of results from the various Polling Units, which result by law was expected to be transmitted directly into INEC Server/Website as provided for under Section 68 of the Electoral Act 2022.
“This deliberate delay and criminal connivance by INEC provided the opportunity for the reported compromise, alteration, falsification and switching of election results in favour of the APC in Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Ondo, Ekiti, Kebbi, Ogun and other states where our candidate was in clear lead.
“The PDP therefore rejects the manipulated election results as announced by INEC.
“Our party cautions that INEC is pushing Nigerians to the wall by announcing manipulated results.
“We are aware that INEC embarked on extensive and illegal cancellation of election results in many States of the country. For instance, in Sokoto State over 200 polling units results where the PDP is in clear lead have also been canceled thereby disenfranchising over 200,000 registered voters.
“The PDP on behalf of Nigerians and in the interest of national peace, demands that INEC halts further announcement of manipulated results and immediately transit the authentic elections results from the polling units directly its Server/Website as required by law before continuation of announcement of results.”
Nigerian Tribune checks revealed that Section 65(c) as signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari states that, “Declaration of scores of candidates and the return of a candidate Provided that the Commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return where the Commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.”
National Secretary of the Labour Party, Honourable Umar Farouk Ibrahim, spoke in a similar vein and demanded that Ekiti results be looked into.
“We are also making our calculation and observation based on the Ekiti State result and we have also come with a similar figure as presented by the PDP and as such, there is obvious over-voting. We also call for that result to be looked at and finally rejected.”
Agent of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze, also demanded cancellation of the Ekiti result.
“This calculation and position of my colleagues here, Action Alliance has gone through that same figure and we got the same position. We will like the commission to look at it and the Ekiti State result should be cancelled for over-voting based on our calculation.”
Former national legal adviser of the APC, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), who incidentally is the polling agent of the APC’s candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accused his counterpart of wasting the time of the Commission.
Ogala said the only option open to the opposition parties was to file a petition before tribunal.
He said: “I think the law is clear that when a result has been declared, we should resort to petition, if need be. Ekiti was declared yesterday [Sunday], we were asked for observation, and if that had been done, any party that feels troubled should prepare its petition.”
Senator Melaye further accused the commission of bypassing transmission of results through the INEC Results Viewing Portal and contravening provisions of Section 47(3) of the Electoral Act.
He asked the chairman of INEC to mandate Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to clarify before making formal presentation of results that at the point of voting before the results were transmitted.
Giving his response on accredited figure for Ekiti election, the INEC chairman faulted the figure bandied by Senator Melaye and other opposition parties’ agents.
He declared that what was recorded as accredited votes in Ekiti was 315,058, as against 301,558 as claimed by Senator Melaye.
He said: “I still insist that the figure presented by the state collation officer for the presidential election for Ekiti State of the total number of accredited voters is 315,058. This is what is on the spreadsheet that we screened yesterday. And this is also what is on the actual result manual recorded by the scope and signed by the PDP agent and agents of other political parties back in Ekiti State.
“But having said that, I’ve taken note of your observations; let us make progress on that one. But what we have here is exactly what I’ve said. Any other figure that is at variance with this one cannot supersede the official result presented. Let’s make progress.”
Speaking with journalists after the INEC chairman adjourned collation for few hours, Senator Melaye accused the INEC chairman of breach of certain provisions of the Electoral Act.
He claimed that the commission had failed to convince Nigerians that results of elections were being transmitted from polling units to INEC server.
“A few minutes ago, we raised the issue of the fact that in accordance with the provision of the Electoral Act, Section 60 and Section 64 of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) that there will be transmission of results from the polling units. And then INEC chairman has repeatedly told Nigerians that there will be transmission of a lot of results from polling units directly to the server.
“We find out that this has not been done. INEC failed in this regard. And when this issue was raised today, supported by other party agents, the national chairman of INEC evaded vehemently because what Section 47(3) emphasises that wherever the BVAS fails, if they cannot get a replacement, election should be cancelled in those areas.
“And we have seen from the presentation of the results from yesterday that some places were cancelled as a result of bypassing BVAS. So the only way to detect that BVAS has been bypassed is for us to see the uploaded results.
“And we insist that the chairman should show us here now the uploaded results state by state just like the way they are displaying the collated results they are presenting and that is the only way to test the veracity and authenticity of these results.
“If not, we are only here to endorse the fraud that has been done from the units to the wards to the states. We are not here to rubber-stamp infractions. We are not here to rubber-stamp the abnormalities that have been done.
“We are here to check them but the national chairman of INEC is not giving us opportunity to question what they are doing. He is saying that all has been done, meaning we are here to rubber-stamp and we are going to prove that we are not here to rubber-stamp.
“We have no other country to call our home but this country; we are going to do everything humanly possible to make sure that the right thing must be done.
“We have just met now with other political parties and we are going to make a presentation by the time we resume, and if they insist that they are not going to respond to us, then, you will see the action we will take.
“We will not allow it. We have suffered a lot of pain in this country; suffered poverty, hunger, kidnapping, killings. We will not allow a continuation of failure. We must make sure that the right thing is done.
“Nigerians are watching the world is watching, even the dead are watching to see what INEC will do, but the battle to make sure that only authentic results will be announced here today is a battle of no retreat, no surrender.”
Later, Senator Melaye and Honourable Emeka Ihedioha, who is also a polling agent of the PDP, led agents of the Labour Party, Umar Farooq Ibrahim, and agents of the Action Alliance (AA), the Action Democratic Party (ADC) and Action People’s Party (APP) to stage a walk out at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, venue of the collation centre.
The parties cited alleged breaches of provisions of Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) by the electoral umpire.
Melaye, who was the first to speak with newsmen outside the collation room, said despite assurance by INEC chairman, Professor Yakubu, that results would be uploaded on INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), the commission had failed to show sincerity to its pledge.
He also alleged that the commission was scheming to ensure victory for the ruling APC.
He said: “We party agents, having observed that the national chairman of INEC is determined to rig the election by making sure that results are not uploaded by vehemently making a presentation that makes us look as if we are all here to rubber stamp the electoral fraud that have been prepared by INEC and APC.
“We also know that no result has been uploaded on the server
“He is now saying we should wait for the process to be completed; that there will be review, knowing full well that after the announcement, there can’t be any review, so we are completely dissociating ourselves and that’s why we staged a walkout to express the unfortunate politicisation and commercialisation of our electoral process.
“We are saying that INEC is compromised, APC has influenced INEC and we can see results are being changed. We have records of where elections did not take place and results are being prepared. We have records of where the BVAS were not used and results have been pronounced; what is difficult for the chairman to display the uploaded results so that we can compare it with that which is made by the state returning officers.
“They cannot upload results. They cannot show us the uploaded results because they know that that what they are going to upload will be at variance with what will be presented to Nigerians. The electoral process has been rigged and we are disassociating ourselves from it.
“Our resolution is that the entire process be canceled. We are saying that the system has been compromised, INEC compromised, we are saying the entire process be cancelled.”
Ibrahim, the national secretary of the Labour Party, spoke in similar vein as he alleged that the integrity of the process had been compromised.
He said the Bimodal Voters Accreditation (BVAS) machines had been compromised.
Also, the Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, said said the Labour Party has lost confidence in the process and called on the international community to intervene.
In a statement in Abuja, Osuntokun said: “We hereby call on INEC to suspend further announcement of the results, and follow its own guidelines or completely cancel the entire election and make plans for another election with strict compliance with the stipulated laws and guidelines. “
Meanwhile, the APC Presidential Campaign Council has raised the alarm that the PDP and LP had already commenced plot to stop the announcement of the presidential election result through a court injunction.
The Director, Public Affairs and chief spokesperson, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo (SAN), in a statement on Monday, alleged that “the PDP and Labour Party have perfected plans to finally scuttle our democracy and throw the country into constitutional crises by surreptitiously obtaining exparte court orders stopping the announcement of the presidential election results which they fear have gone against them.
“The walk-out they staged today [Monday] at the National Collation Centre is just a precursor to executing the plan.
“Nigerians will recall that the June 12, 1993 debacle that brought Nigeria to its knees and caused our country international isolation was precipitated by a court injunction stopping the announcement of the presidential election results. “
“The court order was obtained by a certain Association for Better Nigeria headed then by one Chief Authur Nzeribe. This is exactly what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr Peter Obi want to foist on this nation again because of their inordinate ambitions.
“This is not surprising because both candidates were nowhere to be seen when Asiwaju was fighting for the democracy we all enjoy today.”
Keyamo noted that by provisions of Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, no court is vested with powers to stop the holding of elections (which includes the declaration of results).
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