By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council PCC has accused the Peoples Democratic Party PDP and the Labour Party LP of engaging in massive thumbprinting of ballot papers in Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
The council also alleged that both opposition parties resorted to forcing voters, including women and children, to vote for them.
Spokesman of the Council and Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Barr. Festus Keyamo in a statement yesterday warned the spokespersons of both parties to stop inciting the people to violence.
He said; “Our attention has been drawn to some incendiary comments by spokespersons of the opposition parties, notably the Peoples Democratic Party PDP and the Labour Party LP regarding the yet-to-be-announced results of the elections that held yesterday.
“Some of them have threatened fire and brimstone if their own version of some concocted results are not announced in a bid to be the judge, jury and executioner in this elections.
“Similarly, to rile up their supporters against the country, they play up some isolated incidents of violence in our strongholds, whereas we have tons of videos of massive electoral malpractices like violence against non-LP supporters, forcing and guiding women and children to thumb-print ballot papers for LP and massive thumb-printing of ballot papers by both PDP and LP supporters in some parts of the country. In addition, in one breath one of the spokespersons of the PDP complained about a certain headline in a newspaper about early results, yet in condemning the newspaper, he also makes unfounded claims about the yet-to-be released results”.
He said the council decided to be calm to await the official announcement of the results and to pursue any grievance (if any) in a lawful manner.
However, Keyamo added that the Tinubu Campaign Council “shall not sit back and allow such unguided comments to gain grounds in order to foist a particular narrative on our citizens and the international community”.
“Recall that all parties signed the Peace Accord twice before the eyes of the world. Now is the time to abide by the terms of that accord and show love for country over and above personal ambitions.
“We have all campaigned hard and strong. The Nigerian people have listened to all of us and made their decisions. Now is the time to hear the voices of Nigerians as the results are released and not our own voices. The body officially designated to reflect the voices of Nigerians is the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC. No Party can bully them by threats to do its own bidding. Neither will the APC be cowed into silence by this disgusting antics of the opposition parties.
“We call on the International Observers and friends of Nigeria not to be distracted, but to focus on the process as it unfolds”, he stated.
The Obi-Datti Media Office has raised the alarm over the underhand moves to manipulate the Presidential Election results across the country with the non-uploading of much of the presidential election results to the INEC server at the polling stations.
Head, Obi-Datti Media Team, Diran Onifade, in a statement yesterday, said it is curious, unacceptable, and smacks of fraud that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) device could nobly transmit the Senate and House of Representatives results, but cannot do that of the Presidential election.
He said, the Obi-Datti Media Office finds it curious that the BVAS would choose which results to upload and which not to upload.
The media team noted that this smacks of a serious fraud aimed to torpedo the wishes of the Nigerian electorate who have already decided that things can no longer continue to go wrong in Nigeria, using the ballot box to do so.
According to the statement, “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), should be held responsible for this flagrant anomaly that defies logic, as the Obi-Datti Media Office finds what is developing as a recipe to manipulate the process and truncate the electoral wishes of the Nigerian masses.
“We also find unbecoming, the reported interference of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike. We call on all relevant bodies to do the needful and prevent the Governor from meddling in the electoral process”.
Onifade, said, the Obi-Datti Media Office will not accept any presidential election result that is not in tandem with the results issued at the polling units, copies of which, it already have.
“We are calling the attention of local and international observers and other stakeholders, to this unfortunate and orchestrated anomaly. Please call INEC to order,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party (LP) has faulted the process of collating the result of last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),saying it will challenge the outcome in court.
LP alleged that most of its members were deliberately disenfranchised through varied means across the country, but were more discerning in its strongholds.
The party in a statement yesterday issued by the national secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, said while the party made inroads with high votes in most parts of Northern Nigeria, LP members were deliberately prevented from voting, chased away violently from polling units, or had ballot papers and boxes destroyed and burnt in others.
He cited Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kano, Yobe and Edo states among places where such acts were rampantly perpetrated in violation of the electoral act 2022 as amended.
Umar said in some places, INEC staff and electoral materials were not deployed to areas that are known to be strongholds of Labour Party, or deployed late to frustrate the party supporters who, psychologically got tired of waiting and had to leave the polling units for the fear of the unknown.
“The delay by INEC to upload and announce results, especially where Labour Party, is already known to have taken lead, is also worrisome and we feel it is deliberate to anger our party and our supporters” he said.
Umar also alleged that intelligence from the fields revealed that across the Northern states, electorates identified as LP supporters were tactically denied access to their polling units by some officials who connived with others to confuse the electorates by insisting their polling units are different and sending them to the wrongs ones.
He said this frustrated the electorates, and reduced the votes polled by LP, which would have more than doubled if the right things were done.
LP called on INEC to checkmate and call its polling staff to order and also ensure punitive measures in line with the electoral Act 2022 as amended.
The LP national secretary assured that the party would definitely challenge the outcome and final result in court.
He, however, called on the party members and supporters to be calm, remain law abiding, but be encouraged with their efforts so far, and mobilise even more for the next round of elections, as the party takes steps to right the wrong meted out to her in the Saturday presidential and National Assembly Elections.
