PDP alleges plot by INEC to destroy information in BVAS machines

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has said there is a move by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to destroy evidence of fraud in the February 25 presidential election.

The PDP spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, at a press conference in Abuja, on Tuesday claimed that the motion filed by INEC to reconfigure the BVAS machine used for the election is a measure to remove relevant information needed by the party and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to prosecute the case in the Presidential Election Court.

The Court of Appeal on March 3 granted leave to Atiku and Peter Obi of the Labor Party, to examine the documents used by INEC to conduct the election.

He said non-compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act in addition to violence and fraud marred the conduct and results of the election.

Therefore, they approached the court for permission from the court to inspect the sensitive material used to conduct the election.

But on Monday, INEC filed a motion asking to be allowed to reconfigure the BVAS machine for the governorship election to be held on Saturday.

Mr. Ologunagba said the commission had nothing to hide, why did they rush to court asking to be allowed to reorganize the device?

“Apparently panicked by the Order, INEC rushed to court to file a motion asking the court to reconfigure the BVAS device with a view to deleting the information contained therein.

“…… This reprehensible action by INEC to frustrate the desire of Nigerians to seek redress through the courts is a clear recipe for crisis and a deliberate design by the commission to derail our democracy and trigger anarchy in the country,” he said.

Read the full text of the PDP press conference

Text of the Press Conference by the National Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Debo Ologunagba, Today, Tuesday, March 7, 2023, on the Motion by INEC to Destroy Evidence of Fraud in the February 25, 2023 Presidential Election

Gentlemen Press, we have called you to alert Nigerians and the International Community of the atrocious move by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to destroy and remove evidence of the intolerable fraud during the February 25, 2023 Presidential election.

Late yesterday at 10: 10 pm, INEC in a desperate move to prevent our Party and Candidates from taking the necessary evidence as ordered by the Court, filed a motion asking to be allowed to reconfigure the BVAS machine and delete relevant information that our Party. and Candidates must plead our case in the Presidential Electoral Court.

This reprehensible action by INEC to frustrate the desire of Nigerians to seek compensation through the courts is a clear recipe for crisis and a deliberate design by the Commission to derail our democracy and trigger anarchy in the country.

Nigerians can recall how the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu superintended through the manipulation of the results of the Presidential Election and immediately announced the winner in spite of widespread outcry and complaints through many evidence of malpractices and violation of some provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 by INEC and its officials.

The Chairman of INEC goes through all the steps and procedures provided by the Electoral Act, 2022 for the declaration of results, including announcing and announcing only the results sent directly from the Polling Unit to the INEC Server/Website and checking the results in the event of disputes and objections for correctness and consistency the collected results.

For emphasis Section 64 (6) of the Electoral Act clearly states;

(6) If during the collection of results, there is a dispute about the results collected or the election results of the Voting Unit, the collection officer or returning officer must use the following to determine the correctness of the disputed results-

(a) the original of disputed results is collected for each Polling Unit where the election is disputed;

(b) a smart card reader or other technological device used to accredit voters in each polling unit where the election is contested for the purpose of obtaining accreditation data directly from the smart card reader or technological device.

(c) accreditation data recorded and transmitted directly from each polling unit where the election is disputed as determined under section 47 (2) of this Act

(d) votes and election results are recorded and sent directly from each polling unit where the election is disputed, as prescribed in section 60 (4) of this Act.

Furthermore, Section 65 (1)(c) of the Electoral Act, 2022 states the following;

S. 65.-(1) The decision of the returning officer must be final on questions arising from or related to-…. (c) candidate’s score declaration and candidate’s return;

Provided that the Commission will have the power within seven days to review declarations and returns where the Commission determines that the declarations and returns were not made voluntarily or were made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manuals for elections.

Instead of being guided by the law, the Chairman of INEC brazenly declared and announced the results that were not sent directly from the Polling Unit to the INEC Server/Website while ignoring the objections and complaints raised during the collection in disregard of the provisions of the Electoral Act. .

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Also read: Court of Appeal dismisses INEC’s application to reconfigure BVAS as Obi rejects plea

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Despite the provocative actions of the Chairman of INEC, PDP as a law-abiding Party approached the court and obtained an Order directing INEC, among other things, to grant unrestricted access to Parties and Candidates to conduct forensic examination of ballot papers, Data Forms, BVAS/ and or card readers and all other information, materials and evidence required to seek redress for Nigerians in the Electoral Tribunal.

Apparently panicked by the Order, INEC rushed to court to file a motion asking the court to allow it to reconfigure the BVAS device with a view to erasing the information contained therein.

In an obnoxious move, INEC admitted that; “The BVAS application stores the Accreditation Data for all accredited voters on the device for the Presidential, Senatorial District and House of Representatives elections held on February 25, 2023” and that the reconfiguration of the BVAS device “requires clearing the Accreditation Data on the BVAS device”.

This action of INEC is disturbing, provocative and only shows the Commission’s impunity and responsibility for the reported manipulation and alteration of results to deny our Party and its Candidate the victory in the Presidential election. It further validates the fact that our Party and Presidential Candidate won the Presidential election on February 25, 2023, based on actual votes in the Polling Unit.

If INEC has nothing to hide, why did it rush to announce the manipulated results without using the provisions of the Electoral Act and without considering the disputes, objections and complaints raised by the Party during the collation process? Why is INEC panicking and desperate to delete the data in BVAS if it does not contain evidence of malpractices and mistakes in the election?

PDP as a law abiding Party will continue to pursue the matter in accordance with the law. We believe that despite the shenanigans by INEC, justice will be done at the end of the day.

Thank you and God bless Nigeria.