The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has
insisted that the Smart Card Readers will be deployed in the
Saturday polls.
INEC is conducting elections governorship elections in 29 states
of the Federation and the 36 states assemblies and also the council
polls in FCT.
The commission in a statement signed by Festus Okoye, National
Commissioner, in-charge of Information and Voter Education also
denied the allegation of selective use of smart card readers in the
last election.
The statement reads: “The general public and all officials
engaged for the elections are hereby informed that the Commission
is not reconsidering the use of these Smart Card Readers which has
greatly improved the credibility of our elections and instilled a
high level of public trust In them.
“To clear any doubt or ambiguity. We wish to state that the
deployment and mandatory use Smart Card Readers in next Saturday’s
elections will not only be uniform but also universal. and the
provisions of the Regulations and Guidelines will be strictly and
vigorously enforced All Stakeholders are to note and be guided
accordingly please.”
The commission explained further “Since the conduct of the
February 23. 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
there have been allegations from certain quarters that the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was selective in
its use of Smart Card Readers (SCRs) in its conduct of the
electrons. These allegations have led to speculations that INEC may
be forced to jettison their use in the March 9, 2019 Governorship,
State Houses of Assembly and Federal Capital Area Council
elections. ”
It therefore added, “INEC hereby states categorically that the
allegations are absolutely false and the speculations are without
any basis whatsoever. The use of the Smart Card Readers is not only
mandatory but its deliberate non-use attracts the sanction of
possible prosecution of erring officials in accordance with the
INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of elections. This
is in addition to the voiding of any result emanating from such
units or areas. as was done in the Presidential and National
Assembly elections of February 23, 2019. “
Read more use-of-card-readers-a-must-in-saturdays-polls-says-inec/
Atiku Abubakar
Buhari’s Election: Atiku Goes to Appeal Court, Applies
to Inspect INEC Register
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
in the February 23, presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,
and his party formally kick-started their petition challenging the
conduct and outcome of the election which produced President
Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for a second
term of four years.
Atiku kick-started the petition with an ex-parte motion filed at
the Court of Appeal in Abuja, asking for various orders of the
court to allow him access all documents used by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of the
pool.
The ex-parte motion is praying for an order compelling INEC to
allow them Inspect the register and other vital documents used in
the conduct of the election unhindered.
In the ex-parte motion dated March 4 and filed March 5, Atiku
and the PDP applied that the Appellate Court serving as the
Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to compel the electoral
body to allow their agents to scan and make photocopies of vital
documents used in the last presidential election for the purpose of
maintaining their petition against the election.
The ex-parte application filed by a legal luminary, Chief Chris
Uche SAN, has INEC, President Muhamadu Buhari and the All
Progressives Congress (APC) as respondents.
Specifically, the ex-parte motion indicated that the order
requested against INEC is for the purpose of filing and maintaining
election petition before the tribunal.
The ex-parte motion according to our findings is supported with
a 12 paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Colonel Austin Akobundu
(Rtd.), a Director of Contact and Mobilization in the Atiku
Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council.
Meanwhile, no date has yet been fixed for hearing of the
motion.
When our Correspondent visited the Court of Appeal, Abuja
Division serving as the presidential election petition tribunal, a
functional registry and Secretariat have been opened for the
purpose of receiving Petitions from aggrieved presidential
candidates against the last presidential election.
Atiku and PDP who scored over 11m votes to come second in the
February 23 presidential election as against the over 15m votes
declared by INEC for Buhari and APC have indicated their desire to
challenge the conduct and outcome of the election at the tribunal
on the grounds that the poll was heavily manipulated and rigged for
the declared winners.
Specifically, the grouse of Atiku and PDP was that the results
collated by them from polling units across the country were quite
different from those recorded for the declared winners by INEC.
Meanwhile, the President Muhammadu Buhari campaign council has
said that it is not opposed to the decision of the PDP candidate in
the last presidential poll Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from seeking
redress in the law court.
A Press statement by the spokesperson for the council Mr. Festus
Keyamo SAN read in part; “Our attention has been drawn to some news
item and posts on social media reporting that we wrote a letter to
some international bodies to prevail on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar not
to proceed to court to challenge the result of the 2019
Presidential Election.
“Our investigation reveals that a letter to that effect was
purportedly written by a certain ‘Buhari Campaign
Organisation’.
“This is the second time we will be informing the public that
the said ‘Buhari Campaign Organisation’ does not act at the behest
of the APC Presidential Campaign Council nor does it represent the
Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation in any way.
“As a result, whatever it has released does not represent the
position of the APC presidential campaign council or President
Muhammadu Buhari.
“Our official position is that we believe that Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar has a constitutional right to seek redress in court and we
do not seek in any way to curtail that right.
“In fact, it is the resort to court that is the only democratic
way to ventilate his perceived grievance and any attempt to
restrict or discourage the exercise of such right would be an
invitation to anarchy.
“In addition, we are very anxious to meet Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
in court in order to show the world in a conclusive manner the free
and fair nature of the comprehensive defeat of Atiku at the polls.
An election is not termed ‘rigged’ only by the mere claim of it by
the loser.
That is what Atiku and the PDP want to ram down our throats.
Unfortunately for them, international, continental and sub-regional
observers (who can be seen as neutral by all standards) ALL
declared the election to be free, fair and credible. No
ego-massaging narrative can change that.
“We therefore totally disassociate ourselves from the letter
purportedly written by one of, perhaps, many support groups of
President Muhammadu Buhari. They may have a right to their opinion,
but it does not represent our official position.
By PRNigeria