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…Berates INEC
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has described as suspicious the manner in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the governorship and state House of Assembly elections earlier scheduled for March 11, soon after securing the court’s approval, last Wednesday, to reconfigure its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices.
It said that the action is rather Machiavellian and raises further doubts about the commission’s sincerity and honesty of purpose in the electoral process.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ken Robinson, PANDEF noted that it was less than 72 hours to the governorship and state assembly elections before the Court of Appeal, Abuja, granted INEC the relief they sought, on the grounds that if not given they won’t be able to hold the elections, when they had earlier given the impression that the elections would hold as scheduled.
The group, therefore, noted that INEC suddenly shifted the elections after the judgment created room for more misgiving.
PANDEF recalled that various reputable organizations, both local and international, had scored the performance of INEC in the February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly election as “far below expectations”.
It also cited that reports of BVAS defects, INEC’s failure to promptly upload results to its portal from the various polling units across the country, with excuses of technical glitches, undermined the outcome of the electoral process.
The group insisted that these occurrences are totally unacceptable, particularly given the repeated assurances of President Muhammadu Buhari and INEC of free, fair and credible elections; though the same election has resulted in a national assembly that somewhat reflects the new political outlook of the country.
It said that with the huge amount of tax payers’ money that was deployed to the process, the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, should be personally held responsible for the observed lapses and inconsistencies at the polls.
PANDEF also noted that its preferred candidate in the presidential election, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), has also expressed dissatisfaction with the results declared by the electoral umpire and is already in court, saying “we shall, therefore, withhold further comments on the subject matter, until a final decision is made by the courts.”
Meanwhile, PANDEF urged all who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the February 25 election to seek judicial redress and not take laws into their hands in order not to exacerbate tension in the country, saying that it is hopeful that the courts would dispense justice without fear or favour. “Nigeria is greater than any individual or group”, the group said.
The Forum demanded that INEC reassures Nigerians of its readiness to ensure that the lapses and inconsistencies observed during the February 25 election will not reoccur in the governorship and state assembly elections, now shifted to Saturday, March 18.
