Watchful youths
in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, have allegedly caught some people
suspected to be officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) thumb printing at the Commission’s office, three days after the
declaration of the results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections,
reports ITRealms.
The youths, ITRealms gathered acted on a tip off and
were able to video the officials and others that supervised the thumb printing;
which further cripples the claim by INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega that
there was no substantial evidence to cancel the elections in Rivers State.
Speaking on
anonymity, one of the officials disclosed that the mass thumb printing, days
after the election, was to justify the results tendered and provide evidence in
preparation for tribunal.
The ballot papers
from the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections were allegedly sponsored
by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members.
This, ITRealms reports, is coming at a time
the people of the area are mourning the yet to be investigated murder of three
APC supporters in cold blood; one of them killed by a soldier.
Prof. Attahiru
Jega, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had during the
collation of votes of the March 28 elections admitted results, which indicated
that PDP scored 1,487,075 to APC’s 69,238 votes from Rivers State.
The INEC boss
claimed that there was no substantial evidence to cancel election results in
Rivers State, based on the report of an investigative committee that visited
Port Harcourt, but acknowledged administrative deficiencies during the conduct
of the polls.
The APC in Rivers
State challenged Jega’s claims, observing that “even a child will not believe
that a state like Rivers, controlled by the party, that it would record less
than 70, 000 votes without a single candidate as against the opposition party
scoring over 1.4 million”.
The party
questioned the rationale behind the said investigative committee meeting with
only Gesila Khan, Rivers REC, in whom it had long lost confidence and perhaps
the PDP being principally the parties whose misconduct it was meant to
investigate.
Senator Magnus
Abe, Rivers South-East Senatorial candidate of the APC who received the
electoral materials from the Khana youths urged the CID unit of the police to
commence a full scale investigation and prosecute the INEC and police officials
involved in the fraud.
“As you can see
before me are INEC ballot papers from Khana. At about 12noon (Thursday), youths
stumbled on some INEC officials in their office in Bori, where they brought in
presiding officers and supervisors to thumbprint ballot papers and doctored
results all in favour of PDP” he said.
“I called the
Area Commander, Bori and the DPO who told me the INEC officials were in Bori to
collect their stipends on the last elections; I called CP Karma, who asked me
to report the matter to the CID; I decided to inform the Nigerian public before
proceeding to the police CID” Senator Abe said.
He also called on
the INEC chairman, Prof. Jega to urgently effect the redeployment of the Rivers
State REC, Gesila Khan before the April 11 governorship elections for showing
executive recklessness in collaboration with PDP and the police and sued for
the cancellation of the concocted elections, insisting that the votes counted
in favour of the PDP were not cast by Rivers people.
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Pix: Thumb printed ballot papers on display by Senator Magnus Abe addressing press
