Delta State All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the April 11 governorship election, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, have again petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following plans by the commission’s workers to deny the mandatory use of card readers in the election.
Both petitioners’ calls for the cancellation of the election results, by which Ifeayin Okowa was declared governor, rest on the faulted election process, which did not comply with INEC’s instruction that electronic card readers should be used.
“This position is clearly stated in the INEC Manual for Election Officials 2015 and in the Approved Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of 2015 General Election,” the petition said.
Emerhor and APC, in the petition filed through their counsel, S. M. Egbune, alleged that three INEC workers in Asaba, the state capital, volunteered to depose to witnesses’ statements on oath against INEC’s documented instruction.
According to the petition, INEC’s lawyer, D. D. Dodo, got three workers of the commission – Enabor Felix, Livy Unigwe, and Donatus Anumba – to depose to the witnesses’ statements.
Emerhor and APC said they rejected the move.
The petition also alleged that in the witnesses’ statements, the three INEC workers “wilfully and wrongly mistook the commission’s position as follows:
- “Denies that 3rd Respondent (INEC) prescribed the mandatory use of the electronic card readers for the accreditation of voters for the elections held on the 11th of April, 2015, in each of the polling units in each Local Government Area of Delta State.
- “That the Electoral Act is a comprehensive Act which deals with the conduct of elections in Nigeria. Electoral Act 2010 ( as amended ) provides for the only mode of accreditation of voters, which is solely through the Register of voters. Accreditation at an election is regulated by the Electoral Act 2010 ( as amended ).
- “That the introduction of Card Reader Machine is a mere instruction at the election to facilitate the accreditation process and does not in any way equate with or obliterate the express provisions of the Electoral Act, which are extant for all purposes.
- “That from inception it was contemplated that upon failure of the Card Reader Machine, other contingencies will be resorted to in order to ensure that election is duly conducted and that legitimate voters were not disenfranchised.
- “That the ultimate mechanism was a resort to the manual accreditation as provided for in the Electoral Act. That with the challenges presented by the Card Reader Machines, the process of accreditation proceeded as was expressly provided for in the Electoral Act. There were no acts of non-compliance which materially affected the result of the election.”
Emerhor and APC expressed shock that those given the job of impartial umpires could become tools against INEC’s official position.
They urged INEC’s Acting Chairman, Mrs Amina Zakari, to intervene in the matter to save the commission’s reputation.