The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has written to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu, over what it said were the deliberate violations of the Electoral Act and guidelines by the commission during the February 23 Presidential and National Assembly polls.
In the letter addressed to the INEC boss with reference number PDP/DOM/INEC/19-004, dated Monday March 4, 2019 and signed by the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus and the National Secretary of the party, Senator Umaru Tsuari, the accused the commission of deliberate violations to aid the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
It said the violations had very negative implications on the credibility, transparency and integrity of the entire electoral processes.
The party explained that it took the decision to write the commission because of the impending state elections.
The letter listed the commission’s ‘deliberate’ violations to include “the non-usage or selective enforcement of the Smart Card Reader (SCR) machines across the country. We observed with regrets that the usage of the SCR machines were enforced strategically in the South-South, South-East and the North-Central zones of the country which are essentially PDP strongholds.
“This is radically different from what transpired in the North-West, North-East and the South-West 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. Yakub Mahmood, frequently gave up to the last hours before the elections.
“The deliberate non-deployment of the Electronic Collation System (E-Collation) for the elections 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 made by you, and as contained in your several official press statements is very suspect. 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 payer’s money spent to install the facilities.
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“The unconstitutional deployment of the armed forces especially soldiers and police for the illegitimate purposes to harassing, intimidating, suppressing of leaders of the PDP and suppression of voters in PDP strongholds across the country which are very well known to you. The use of these same security agents by the government to harass and intimidate Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and certain INEC’s National Commissioners for the sake of forcing them to declare votes for the APC’s candidates throughout the country have been officially or otherwise brought to your knowledge by the affected officers who even threatened to resign from their positions, yet you have decided to keep mute over it in a way portraying outright conspiracy and collusion of yourself and the commission with the APC government perpetrators.
“We also want to bring to your knowledge that most of the collation centers in the country were cordoned off by officers and men of the armed forces who chased away accredited agents and or candidates of our party, the PDP, from such centers while the results of the elections from the units were being manipulated, mutilated and altered to suit the dictates and criminal desires of the APC led government. These results that were tampered with were accepted by you and your commission and announced as the results of the elections.
“In places like Lagos, Rivers, Nassarawa, Abia, Benue, Plateau, Ondo, Osun States et al, results of duly conducted elections were illegally cancelled especially in the PDP dominated areas to reduce the margin of victory in those states in favour of APC candidates. Is it not surprising to you that Lagos State with over six million voters can only return less than one million votes? This was the case in virtually all PDP dominated states where voter’s suppression was deployed as a major strategy by you and the APC government in active collaboration of some of your unscrupulous RECs and staffers.
“We are sure that till date the commission does not know the number of polling units where elections were cancelled and the total number of registered voters at such polling units. Yet you hurriedly announced the results of the elections especially the Presidential election only to come up with a press statement that supplementary elections will be conducted on March 9, 2019 along with the Gubernatorial and House of Assembly Elections. This to say the least is a major dent on the credibility and image of the commission.
“Under your watch as Chairman of INEC for the first time in our nation’s history, the election materials of all categories; sensitive and non-sensitive, were contracted to be printed by a person who is not just a card-carrying member of a political party; the APC but also a Senatorial Candidate of the party in Niger State. Arising from this, these sensitive materials were seen in several wrongs and unauthorised hands and places before and during the elections. Till this moment your commission has not raised any concerns or set up any enquiry to uncover the immediate or remote causes of such criminal and unconstitutional bastardization of the electoral process.”
The party alleged that INEC engages in the infractions in obvious complicity and collaboration with APC and security agencies to rig the elections and rob the former ruling party of victory.
It reminded the commission that as it headed into Saturday’s elections, it must do everything to right “these grave anomalies to save yourself and the commission from this woeful embarrassment as you may go down in history as the worst Chairman of INEC in our history.”
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Secondus, who was at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, submitted the letter to INEC National Commissioner, May Agbamuche-Mbu, for onward transmission to the Chairman.
In her response to the submission of the letter, Agbamuche-Mbu thanked the protesters for their peaceful conduct, assuring that the commission would do a professional job.
Secondus was accompanied to the national headquarters of INEC by hundreds of party faithful to protest the result of the February 23 presidential election.
They arrived at the commission’s premises singing and dancing to loud music mounted on an open truck.
Their mission was to register their displeasure over the result declared by the commission which they believed did not reflect the will of the people.
The protesters carried banners with various inscriptions condemning the outcome while some called for the release of the actual result of the election which they felt was won by the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar.
Some of the banners read: “INEC stop this manipulation please,” “INEC, please do the right thing,” “We no go gree.” “International observers, say the truth,” “Oyo result is a big scam,” among others.
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