Okey Sampson, Aba
Abia State chapter of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has called on the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigeria Police Force to ensure the prosecution of those arrested last Friday; with already written election results of the postponed presidential and national assembly election, in Umuahia, the state capital.
A man, who gave his name simply as Gaius, was, last Friday, caught with INEC result sheets which reportedly gave victory to the People’s Democratic Party, ahead of last Saturday’s elections.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Augustine Ehiemere, Abia IPAC said members would equally like to sight the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) not collected across the state, so as to be sure that the three ladies caught with thousands of PVCs are not INEC mercenaries.
Abia IPAC also urged the police to use the confessional statements from those already arrested and are still in detention to track all others involved in results-writing and other forms of election manipulations even when actual voting did not take place.
“This will be proof to IPAC that few of these criminals and corrupt politicians do not subvert the will of the people and rubbish all our efforts to entrench credible, free, fair, transparent and violent free election process in 2019 polls.”
On INEC’s postponement of the February 16 election, Abia IPAC said it was disappointed at the electoral umpire’s decision to reschedule the polls, few minutes to the voting hour, not minding the cost, energy and other things already put in place by those involved.
The group applauded security measures put in place by INEC and security agencies, during the distribution of election materials, last Friday, and expected that the same level of arrangement would be replicated across the state, on Saturday.
IPAC said it is aware of alleged plans to relocate some of the voting points in Abia State Polytechnic Pavilion and other higher institutions in the state to classrooms; to create what it described as artificial access to hoodlums to carry out multiple voting; to favour a particular political party.
IPAC requested INEC to publish and make available to stakeholders, the list of materials supplied to local governments in the state; to make room for accountability and transparency.