INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu (Right) and PDP Chairman, Uche Secondus

Nigeria: ‘INEC has refused PDP, Atiku access to election materials’

Main opposition party in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said Nigeria’s election umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has flouted the order of the court, refusing to allow the opposition access to inspect the February 23^rd election materials.

Upon application, a Court of Appeal in Abuja granted the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar relief to inspect the INEC documents to enable it file a petition against the perceived flawed election.

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But the PDP in a statement on Saturday alleged that, contrary to court’s directive, the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, has refused the opposition access to the electoral materials.

The PDP said the INEC action would undermine its capacity to file petition against the presidential election result.

Disclosing this in a statement signed by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary and Director, Media & Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organization, the party opined that the action was a deliberate and wicked ploy by INEC, acting in cahoots with the All Progressives Congress (APC), to frustrate the people-backed resolve by Atiku Abubakar and the PDP to timorously file and mention our petition at the Presidential election Tribunal, and by so doing, ambush the case.

The statement reads thus: “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 cautions the INEC to note that Nigerians are 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 read.