While addressing anxious party agents, local and international observers as well as the media as at 2:00 am Sunday morning at Yakubu Mahmoud Hall venue of the collation, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ibrahim Abdullahi condemned the allegation describing it as baseless and unfounded.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner said INEC will ensure justice and fairness is done to all the political parties as part of its commitment to conduct free, fair and credible election as had been done in the past.
Ibrahim Abdullahi who said that all the 15 Local Government Returning Officers have arrived the Collation Centre and are ready for the presentation of their results, however, attributed the noncommencement of the collation process to the non arrival of the State Returning Officer, Professor Kyari Muhammad to the centre.
According to him, as at the time he addressed the stakeholders, the State Returning Officer, Professor Kyari Muhammad was on his way to Bauchi from Yola, Adamawa State, assuring that as soon as he arrived the process will commence, as he appealed to everyone to remain calm and patience while they waited.
The agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had raised alarm alleging that the delay in commencing the collation of the results of governorship supplementary election was a ploy by INEC to temper with the outcome considering the fact that all the LGA Returning Officers were seen going up and down within the INEC office.