Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the result of the presidential election being released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) describing them as incorrect and totally unacceptable.
The party National Chairman, Uche Secondus, who announced the rejection at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday, said the party took the decision because the result declared by the State Collation Officer for the Presidential Election (SCOPE) for Nasarawa State, Prof. Azubuike Nwankwo was at variance with results collated from the various polling units in the state.
The SCOPE had announced the cancellation of 157,591 votes from 86 polling units in Nasarawa State.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP had polled 289,903 and 283,847 votes respectively.
Secondus stated that the opposition party had the “original” results from all the polling units across the country, noting that figures being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were incorrect and unacceptable to the party.
He appealed to INEC to remain impartial and not allow itself to be used to derail the country’s democracy.
He also charged the commission to void results from all the northern states, where the Smart Card Readers were not used in line with the electoral guidelines.
He alleged that the election results have been altered in Sarkin Dawaki, Doka wards in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa as well as in Agyaragin-Tofa ward, while the counting of the votes in some areas in Lafia, the state capital, were characterized by violence.
He alleged that “10, 000 illegal votes were added to already announced results in Wurno LGA in Sokoto state.”
When our correspondent sought to know if the party was rejecting all the results of the presidential poll so far collated including those from areas where it had won, the PDP chairman said the party was particular about Nasarawa State at moment. “I am using Nasarawa as a case in point, we won there but the result was manipulated. I also told you that we are in possession of the entire results. Where they manipulate is where we are taking about.
“I have told you that we will be briefing you from time to time. But for now, we have pointed out Nasarawa. We will be updating you, as we go a long.
“We don’t want things to go wrong; that is why we are bringing this to your knowledge. They have done (collated) only about five states. We discovered the issue in Nasarawa State, which we have now pointed out to you,” Secondus said.
The PDP chairman further alleged that in its “desperation” to allegedly manipulate the result of the February 23 presidential poll, the Federal Government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) has sent top government officials to the six geopolitical zones to coordinate the altering of the results.
“Officials of both President Buhari’s government and the All Progressive Congress (APC), working with INEC officers, have tried to alter the course of history and disenfranchise our people through the cancellation and manipulation of figures for results already announced at polling units, nationwide, in Local Government Areas (LGAs) where our party, the PDP, had commanding votes; this must now be resisted by every well meaning Nigerian.
“The ruling party’s strategy has indeed been murderous, undignified, and disrespectful of the wishes of the electorate, our people and the international community who have been in solidarity with our nation as we attempt to strengthen our democracy and its institutions.
“In full view of the watching world, and despite efforts by our great party and its agents to adhere to every laid down provision for the 2019 general elections, the APC in collusion with INEC have taken aggressive steps, mostly through inducements, manipulation and incarcerations, using the elements of state power including the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army in particular, alongside other organizations including the Department of State Security (DSS) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to silence the voices of our long suffering people. This is disheartening considering the terms of the Peace Accord, which called for impartiality and non-partisanship by members of our security organization with constitutional roles to play during this civic exercise.
“As if these provocations are not enough, our agents and officials are constantly arrested and in many cases locked-up for complaining that Card Readers were not in use in many Northern states, implying that all results from the Northern part of the country where Card Readers were not used should be voided in accordance with INEC guidelines.”