From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri

The Imo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) was caught yesterday with a forged Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) document at the ongoing inspection of voting materials at its headquarters in Owerri, Imo State.

The alleged attempt by the LP to present a false document as a certified true copy of the BVAS was brought to light during the inspection of the CTC by APC agents who  discovered that the LP had smuggled in a false document, in violation of court order that granted them access to inspect the CTC.

The Director General of Imo State Data Management Centre, Terence Onyejiaku confirmed this to newsmen.

“We came to to observe the inspection of the election materials as the court ordered for the opposition parties that are challenging the result of the governorship election at the tribunal.

“Today we have inspected 13 local government areas out of the 27 LGAs, and INEC have shown us the entirety of the BVAs machines of the 27 LGAs,  by Friday we will complete the remaining 14 LGAs.

“When we started,  the Labour Party team sought to use a document that they purported was the certified True Copy of BVAs report.

“It is alarming to see the desperate moves of LP and Senator Athan Achonu, as they attempted to

deceive the people of Imo State and tarnish the integrity of the electoral process…LP’s attempt to undermine INEC and the legitimate winner of the election is not only unethical but also a disservice to the people of Imo State.”

But the state Publicity Secretary of LP,  Bright Offurum, denied the allegation, as he insisted that the results submitted were the ones collated from the polling units.

“The long and short of the story is that we have asked INEC to allow us access to the BVAS with which they said they conducted the election.

“The result we presented were the results we collated at the polling units level.  What we are saying is tat if you use BVAS for the election just give us access to inspect it. They have not given us access and that is what we are saying. 

“The results we presented were the results we collated from the polling units.  We are saying that let us have access to the election materials from where you said you declared the results from simple.”

When contacted,  the INEC spokesperson in the state, Godlight MaryAnn, said she would confirm from the legal department before responding, but at the time of filing the report she is yet to react.