Presidential Election: PDP Protests Alleged Non-Release Of Materials By INEC
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for allegedly refusing to release the electoral materials used for the conduct of the February 23 Presidential Election.
In a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP asked the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, not to ‘plunge the nation into a monumental crisis’ by refusing to obey orders of the Court of Appeal.
It described the said refusal by INEC as “completely provocative” and accused the electoral body of obstructing justice.
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The statement said, “INEC, by this action, is blatantly standing in the way of justice and working against the will of the people in their quest to salvage the nation and reclaim their stolen mandate at the tribunal.
“The continued refusal of INEC to release the electoral materials to the PDP and our legal team is completely provocative and shows that the commission is working in cahoots with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Buhari Presidency to frustrate the PDP, our candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and majority of Nigerians from retrieving our mandate at the tribunal.”
The main opposition was confident that some of the materials captured in the order of the court; forms EC8D and EC40G, Smart Card Readers, if released, would confirm the victory of its candidate in the election.
It claimed that INEC and the APC were apprehensive that the materials, in addition to the report of the Smart Card Readers used in the Presidential election, would show at the Tribunal that the PDP and Atiku clearly won the poll.
“This is the reason the APC and INEC manufactured a groundless claim that the form EC8D, EC40G and the reports of the card readers were not specifically captured in the order of the court, whereas the court was unequivocal in its order that all materials used for the election be made available to our legal team,” the PDP alleged.
It insisted that the purported refusal of INEC to release the forms were deliberate and disobedience to the orders of the court.
The PDP, therefore, asked the electoral body to release the documents in order for justice to prevail in the matter.
