Chidoka, Keyamo Disagree Over Collation Process

The spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation, Mr Osita Chidoka and that of the Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr Festus Keyamo on Tuesday disagreed over the presidential results from the North as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Both men were at the Collation Centre in Abuja, the nation’s capital, where INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu addressed the stakeholders three days after the Presidential and the National Assembly elections were conducted across the country.

While expressing worries at the figures released by the commission from some northern states, Chidoka of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asked the INEC boss to provide details of the accreditation of voters captured by card readers in the general elections.

“Yesterday (Monday), our colleague raised the issue and we thought that when we come in this morning as we are listening to the states, we will be seeing the accreditation by the states by your card readers.

“Please Mr. Chairman, we will like it to be on record that we want to see the accreditation by the card readers for Bauchi, Borno, Yobe in particular and then of course for the rest of the country because the numbers we are seeing seem to be like we live in two countries,” he stated.

But in response, Keyamo said Chidoka’s request was contrary to Clauses 32 and 35 of INEC’s regulations.

“I just want to react to what my colleague of the PDP said. My simple reaction is that what we are doing here is guided by law and the regulations of INEC.

“The details that my friend is asking for amounts to an inquisition into the results submitted to the Chairman of INEC. There is a proper avenue into how many people were captured by the card readers and all of that and compared with the results.

“That is not the duties of the Chairman sitting at this Collation Centre and those procedures are clearly spelt out there. So for us as a party, for my candidate, we are totally objecting to that procedure here,” he stated.

In his response, the INEC boss said the request made by the PDP’s spokesperson should be channeled to the Commission’s headquarters.