The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) haa said it is disappointing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not been able to conduct any conclusive election under the leadership of Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the electoral body, since his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mahmood assumed office on October 21, 2015, and the first two elections he conducted in Kogi and Bayelsa states were declared inconclusive.
Commenting on Saturday’s election, the party wondered how INEC will conduct general election in the country if it could not organise a rerun poll in Rivers.
The party said the conduct of the electoral body and security operatives fell short of the expected standard, given the level of mobilisation and preparedness.
“Also grossly unacceptable is the shoddy work by security operatives leading to escalation of violence, avoidable deaths and eventual cancellation of election results in eight local government areas in the state,” PDP said on Monday in a statement issued by Olisa Metuh, it spokesman.
The PDP said that “the nation and the international community should hold INEC, security operatives and the All Progressives Congress (APC) responsible for any breakdown of law and order in the state over the non-release of the final results.”
The party claimed that “the only reason for the seizure of the results is the fact that the PDP candidates were in clear and overwhelming victory in all the reruns, prompting the APC, in connivance with INEC, to seek to use the delay to manipulate the results.”
“Nigerians and the international community can now see the desperation of the APC, which has now arm-twisted INEC in the unholy bid to alter the results of the elections and subvert the will of the people,” it said.
“We want the APC and INEC to mark the salient fact that the PDP, the people of Rivers state and indeed all Nigerians are already aware of the results from respective polling centres, wards and local government
areas and will in no way whatsoever accept any final result that does not tally with the actual and already established figures from the polling units.
“We wish to remind the APC and INEC that Rivers state is a known stronghold of the PDP and the results from the elections cannot show otherwise. INEC should therefore understand that Nigerians are aware that in withholding the final results, they are ostensibly preparing grounds for chaos in the state.
“While we invite all to note the avoidable growing tension occasioned by the desperation of the APC to steal the mandate of the people, we caution INEC to extricate itself from the evil web and immediately release all the final results of the ballot as cast by the people and nothing more.”
THE CABLE
