PDP Alleges Fraud As INEC Declares Six States' Gov Poll Inconclusive
The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday continued its declaration of results of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections conducted across the country on Saturday.
But for the first time since 1999 that the nation embraced democracy, INEC declared governorship poll in six states inconclusive. The states affected are Kano, Sokoto, Benue, Bauchi, Adamawa and Plateau.
While INEC has stopped the announcement of results in Rivers State due to the violence that engulfed the state, the commission has also controversially halted the announcement of the governorship election in Kano State which shows the Peoples Democratic Party is leading.
Consequently, the PDP has accused the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, of allegedly playing the script of the ruling All Progressives Congress by declaring governorship elections in these states inconclusive.
It claimed that the commission carried out the action in states where it (the PDP) was in clear lead.
The former ruling party insisted that INEC had become overtly partisan, surrendered its independence to the APC and carried on as “a compromised umpire with obnoxious impunity, thereby sending signals of being heavily bribed by the APC to alter results for its candidates.”
“Already, in Rivers State, INEC is under heavy pressure from the Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to redeploy and replace the state Resident Electoral Commissioner as well as the Administrative Secretary.
“This will be totally unacceptable, completely provocative and shall be firmly resisted by the people even if the totality of our nation’s security is deployed to Rivers State.”
In spite of the PDP’s protest, INEC had while declaring the Plateau State governorship poll inconclusive on Monday, said a supplementary election would hold in nine LGAs and 20 polling units in the state.
The APC also accused the PDP of “unnecessarily crying foul” over the declaration of the governorship election as inconclusive.