PDP takes protest to INEC

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday took its protest over the conduct of the February 23 presidential and National Assembly elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Headquarters in Abuja yesterday.

Led by its National Chairman Uche Secondus, the PDP restated its rejection of the presidential election, won by incumbent President Muhammadu of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

The party chieftains were received at the commission’s main entrance by three INEC National Commissioners, who stood in for their chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.

Secondus told the INEC officials: “We want to place on record and bring to your attention the very obvious and noticeable infractions and violations of the Electoral Laws and the Regulations/Guidelines regulating the 2019 general elections which have very negative implications on the credibility, transparency and integrity of the entire electoral processes, particularly the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections.

“This has become imperative as we approach the gubernatorial and State House of Assembly elections billed for Saturday, March 9, 2019.”

The party chairman listed the infractions and violations to include, non-usage or selective enforcement of the Smart Card Reader (SCR) machines.

He expressed regrets that the usage of the machines was enforced strategically in the Southsouth, Southeast and the Northcentral zones of the country, which he felt “are essentially PDP strongholds”.

Secondus said: “This is radically different from what transpired in the Northwest, Northeast and the Southwest which were estimated as the APC strongholds.

“This is quite contrary to the provisions of Paragraph 10(a) & (b) of the Regulations and Guidelines governing the 2019 General Elections and all the assurances you, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu frequently gave up to the last hours before the elections.”

The party chair carpeted INEC for non-deployment of the Electronic Collation System (E-Collation) for election results from the units, through the ward centres to the Presidential Collation Center in Abuja as provided for in the 2019 Electoral Regulations and Guidelines.

He said: “This is more so when you have never bothered to explain to Nigerians the justification for this sudden official somersault on such a critical component of the electoral process, especially with all the tax payers’ money spent to install the facilities.”

He informed the electoral umpire that some collation centres were cordoned off to pave the way for the manipulation of results, alleging that INEC accepted the results that were tampered with.

He listed Lagos, Rivers, Nassarawa, Abia, Benue, Plateau, Ondo and Osun as the states where results were illegally cancelled.

Secondus faulted plans by INEC to conduct supplementary election in some areas on Saturday after it had announced the results.

INEC National Commissioner Festus Okoye had explained that the supplementary election has nothing to do with the presidential poll.

Okoye said the supplementary election that will be conducted simultaneously with the Governorship and Houses’ of Assembly election is in respect of cancelled National Assembly election results.

INEC National Commissioner (Legal Services) Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, thanked the party chiefs for the orderly manner they conducted themselves.

Agbamuche-Mbu said: “I want to say that in INEC, we are here to do a professional job. But don’t forget that INEC cannot do the work alone. First and foremost, INEC has received your complaint.

“We are going to look at it critically, where we need to change, we will change, where we need to come together, we will come together and work together

“This country belongs to all of us and we must protect it with all our might. I believe that on Saturday, the elections will go on very well but our mantra in this election is that we want peace in our country.

“I supervised Rivers and Bayelsa States, so, I know what it means to invest in that area, and the people of Rivers and Akwa-Ibom know what they want.

“Because this election is very crucial, we intend to make it free and fair election. All we ask is that for your own sake too, your mantra should be peace.

“If you ring peace to the people on the field, you can rest assured INEC and the security agencies would do their part and we look at it again”.