Bala Mohammed set for victory as INEC cancels supplementary election in Bauchi

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Saturday
cancelled supplementary elections in Bauchi state and ordered for
the conclusion of collation and announcement of the result of the
disputed Tafawa Balewa Local Government.

Before the declaration of the Bauchi governorship as
inconclusive, the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, Bala Mohammed, polled 469,512 votes against Governor
Mohammed Abubakar who scored 465,453 votes.

The commission also expressed determination to conclude election
in Rivers state.

In two separate statements by INEC spokesman, Festus Okoye, the
commission also announced the change of the Collation Officer for
Tafawa Balewa Local Government who reportedly withdrew due to
threats to her life.

The statement reads: “On the 12 day of March 2019 the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) considered a
report submitted by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Bauchi
State on the disruption of the Collation process at the Tafawa
Balewa Collation Centre which led to the cancelation of results for
the entire Local Government.

“The Commission found that there are issues that need further
investigation and set up a Committee for that purpose:

“The findings of the Committee are as follows:

“The Governorship and State Assembly Elections were held on the
9th March 2019 in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area and the votes
scored by candidates were announced at the Polling Units and
collated at the 11 Registration Areas of the Local Government.

“Halfway into the Local Government collation, armed gangs
attacked the collation centre and destroyed the Local Government
Result Sheet (EC8C) and some collated results from the Registration
Areas. The results of 7 out of 11 Registration Areas for
Governorship and 6 out of 11 for State Assembly elections were
affected.

“INEC guidelines provide that where violent disruption affects
collation in this manner, results should be regenerated from
duplicate copies on a replacement result sheet. The Collation
Officer, under pressure from Party Agents who could not wait for
the arrival of a replacement result sheet, decided to collate the
result on an available RA result sheet instead of the replacement
LGA result sheet. When the result was presented at the State
Governorship Collation Centre, the Returning Officer rejected the
regenerated result because it was on a wrong result sheet.

“The Investigation Committee established that the result in
Polling Units and Registration Areas are available and in safe
custody.

“The Investigation Committee also established that the number of
cancelled votes for the 4 Polling Units in Ningi Local Government
Area which was recorded as 25,330 in form EC40G (1) was incorrect.
The actual figure is 2,533.

“Consequently, the Commission has taken the following
decisions:

“Approved the resumption and conclusion of the collation of
results of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area in relation to the
Governorship election as the duplicate and original Registration
Area results are available. Approved the resumption, conclusion and
announcement of the result of the Tafawa Balewa State
Constituency.

“The appointment of a new Collation/Returning Officer for Tafawa
Balewa Local Government to continue and conclude the collation
process in place of the original Collation Officer who withdrew
from the exercise citing threats to her life and those of her
family members.

“The Collation process for Tafawa Balewa Local Government will
resume on Tuesday, 19th March 2019.

“The Commission directed that the error in the total number of
cancelled votes in four polling units in Ningi Local Government
Area should be corrected from 25,330 to 2,533.

“The Commission appeals to all stakeholders for continuous
support and understanding”.

On Rivers botched election, INEC said: “On the 10th of March
2019, the Commission suspended all electoral processes in Rivers
State having determined that there was widespread disruption of
collation of results of the elections conducted on the 9th day of
March 2019.

“Subsequently, the Commission set up a Fact-Finding Committee to
assess the situation and report back within 48 hours.

“The Commission met on the 15th day of March 2019 and considered
the report of the Committee and established the following:

“That the Governorship and State Assembly elections took place
in most of the polling units and results were announced.

“That the results from 17 Local Governments out of 23 are
available and are in the Commission’s custody. That the Declaration
and Returns for 21 State Constituencies out of 32 were made prior
to the suspension.

“That collation centres were invaded by some soldiers and armed
gangs resulting in the intimidation and unlawful arrest of election
officials thereby disrupting the collation process.

“Consequent upon the foregoing, the Commission: Expresses its
displeasure with the role played by some soldiers and armed gangs
in Rivers State disrupting the collation process and attempting to
subvert the will of the people.

“Is committed to expeditious completion of the collation process
where results of the elections have been announced.

“Will engage the security agencies at national level and the
Inter-Agency Consultative Committee at the State level to demand
neutrality and professionalism of security personnel in order to
secure a peaceful environment for the completion of the
elections.

“Will also engage with key stakeholders in Rivers State with a
view to ensuring a smooth and peaceful completion of the
process.

“Will issue detailed timelines and activities for the completion
of the election on Wednesday March 20th, 2019”.