Gov Polls: Lagos PDP petitions INEC

The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, over alleged non usage of the Smart Card Readers during the April 11 governorship elections in the state.

In a protest letter signed bFile photo: From Left, President Jonathan, Ag Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, Former President and Bot Chairman, Chief Obasanjo and Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Oghiadomhe at the PDP convention the State Legal Adviser, Mr Adeleke Adefala, the party called on the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos to suspension of the collation and release of the results pending investigation into the complaints.

The party in its petition entitled: “RE: Fraudulent Use and Non Usage Of The Card Reader During The 11TH April governorship and State Assembly Elections”, alleged irregularities in some local government areas.

The party stated that “our candidates have brought to our attention that contrary to electoral rules and guidelines, the newly introduced card readers were not used in the following local Governments: Epe, Badagry, Mushin, Ikorodu, EtiOsa, Alimosho, Ikeja, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos Island and some parts of other local governments.” While the party argued that there were no proper accreditation of voters, it described as a “denouncement of the sanctity of the voting process.”

In addition, the Lagos PDP alleged that “there were numerous complaints of front and uploading of the card readers with fictitious names before commencement of accreditation in areas where card readers were used i.e Lagos Island, Ikorodu, Kosofe, Lagos Mainland and Badagry.”

Calling for the suspension of the collation and release of the results pending investigation into the complaints, the party said “a simple step is for INEC to present for inspection the data from the card readers allocated to the above mentioned Local Government areas since the INEC premises is WiFi enabled, the card reader can be accessed for instant verification.

In the interest of justice, fair play and electoral transparency and the confidence reposed by the Nigerian voters in INEC as a veritable institution of democratic tenets.” “We demand that this investigation be conducted immediately. The first step is the immediate suspension of the collation and release of the results,”the party stated.

Source: Vanguard