Election petition: INEC refusing Atiku assess to election materials ― PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the leadership of
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by Prof.
Mahmood Yakubu, of refusing to obey the March 6, 2019 ruling of the
Appeal Court, directing it to allow the party and its presidential
candidate, Atiku Abubakar, access to inspect the documents and
materials used in the rigged February 23, 2019 Presidential
election.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday by Kola Ologbondiyan,
National Publicity Secretary and Director, Media & Publicity
PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, the main opposition said
INEC’s action was a deliberate and wicked ploy by INEC to frustrate
the “people-backed” resolve by Atiku and the PDP to timeously file
and mention its petition at the Presidential election Tribunal, and
by so doing, ambush the case.

The said INEC was acting in cahoots with the All Progressives
Congress (APC).

It added: “It is imperative to inform Nigerians that upon
obtaining the lawful order of the Court, directing INEC to
forthwith, avail Atiku Abubakar and the PDP copies of all the
documents and other materials used for the Presidential election,
our legal team wrote to the INEC Chairman on the 11th and 12th of
March 2019 respectively, causing the Order to be served on INEC and
requesting access to the said documents and materials.

“Despite being served with the Order and several follow-ups, the
leadership of INEC has refused to grant the PDP and Atiku Abubakar
access to the materials and documents, notwithstanding the urgency
of the matter.

“This action by the leadership of INEC has further exposed that
it has been heavily compromised by the Buhari Presidency to rig the
February 23, 2019 Presidential election and to frustrate the quest
by Nigerians to reclaim the mandate from President Muhammadu Buhari
and save the nation from the crisis of an illegitimate
government.

“The leadership of INEC and the APC are seeking to frustrate our
court option, seeing that the documents and materials will
expressly show that Atiku Abubakar clearly won the election by the
votes directly delivered at the polling units across the country as
well as expose how the commission and the Buhari Presidency
manipulated the results for President Buhari.”

The PDP, therefore, cautioned the INEC to note that Nigerians
were now aware of its manipulative tendencies and that any further
delay in granting access to the materials might attract public
odium.

“INEC should, therefore, end its unpatriotic partisan
shenanigans with the APC and immediately obey the Court of Appeal
and grant the PDP and Atiku Abubakar access to the documents and
materials and free itself from unholy entanglement with the APC
against Nigerians,” the statement declared.