A chieftains of the All Progressives Congress APC, Abdullahi Shinkafi has called on the Chairman of the National Peace Committee, Former of Head State, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Bishop Hassan Kukah to swiftly step- in to intervene to ensure peace prevail in the country.
His call was coming against the backdrop of the opposition political parties agents Which were said to have left the National Collation Centre of the 2023 Presidential And National Assembly election’s results in protest and asking the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to cancel the elections.
Shinkafi described the letter written to president Muhammadu Buhari by former president Olusegun Obasanjo calling for the cancelation of the presidential and National Assembly elections as baseless, Treason offence, invitation to anarchy, disasterous and incitement of the People against the Government.
The APC chieftain said, those who feel aggrieved can approach the court for redress but observed that they did not have the constitutional right to ask the INEC chairman to discontinue the Collation of the presidential election’s results.
Shinkafi urged the security agencies to hold the author of the said letter responsible for whatever happen after the announcement of the presidential election’s results.
The APC chieftain applauded the effort of the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the introduction of new technology into the 2023 general elections, the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, BVAS, which has drastically reduced vote buying or selling and enable candidates which one can not imagine would win the election but they won.
ShinKafi appealed to APC supporters Nationwide to remain calm and refrain from taking the law into their hands, saying that what the Nation needs at this time is peace and unity, therefore, Nigerians should give peace a chance by accepting, the outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections.
Tinubu Accepts Mandate President – Elect Bola Tinubu has accepted the Presidential mandate bestowed on him by Nigerians following the final announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission in the early hours of Wednesday
In his first public statement after the announcement, Tinubu offered the olive branch to his Co-contestants by soliciting their cooperation in the interest of Democracy and the Nigerian people.
INEC BORNO STATE PRESIDENTIAL COLLATED RESULTS FOR THE FRONT RUNNER PARTIES: Out of the 27 Local Government Councils, 23 were won by the APC, while only 4 went to the PDP. The figures are as follows:
Breaking News: PDP, LP, ADC calls for immediate cancellation of 2023 Presidential election results,Calls For A Fresh Election
The People’s democratic party, PDP, the LABOR PARTY, LP and the African democratic Congress, ADC have called for the immediate cancellation of the 2023 Presidential election held on Saturday 25th February 2023.
The parties also called for a fresh election to be conducted within the window provided by the electoral act 2022.
The political parties also passed a vote of no confidence on the INEC chairman Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu.
The party alleged that the commission has compromised the entire process and have failed Nigerians.
The parties also called on President Muhammadu buhari to urgently intervene in the situation to avoid chaos in the country.
Being the text of the joint press conference by the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Dr Datti Ahmed on Tuesday, 28th of February, 2023 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
On Saturday, the 25th of February, 2023, Nigerians from the different parts of our great country braced all manner of challenges to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. And having cast their votes, they are expectantly awaiting the results of the presidential and National Assembly election. We wish to state for the records that last weekend’s election was a sham. It was neither free nor fair. What played out yesterday at the National Collation Center exposes the National Chairman of playing to a predetermined script. Our position remains that the election and transmission of the results must be in tandem with the Electoral Act and the INEC guidelines.
There is no doubt that INEC is under a statutory obligation to transmit election results electronically. Paragraph 38 of the INEC manual made pursuant to section 149 of the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 constitution as amended provides for this. That paragraph, which deals with the transmission of results at the polling units, is crucial, and it imposes statutory obligations on the part of INEC to upload polling units results on its portal.
There is no doubt that polling units results are the pyramid upon which other results are built. Therefore, it is required that the moment polls come to a close and the results are declared, the results must be uploaded on INEC server or portal.
Paragraph 38 of INEC Manual 2022 made pursuant to the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and section 149 of of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that: “On completion of all the Polling Unit voting and results procedures, the Presiding Officer shall: (i) Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit, direct to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission. (ii) Use the BVAS to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as prescribed by the Commission. (iii) Take the BVAS and the original copy of each of the forms in tamper evident envelope to the Registration Area/Ward Collation Officer, in the company of Security Agents. The Polling Agents may accompany the Presiding Officer to the RA/Ward Collation Centre.” It is mandatory and compulsory. INEC has no option. So, the failure to upload results and follow the procedures set out in paragraph 38 of the manual made pursuant to the Electoral Act 2022, is a fundamenal breach that has the potential of rendering the election results that did not follow those procedures null and void.
For clarity, Section 64 (4) (a) and (b) of the Electoral Act, 2022 specifically provide thus: “A collation officer or returning officer at an election shall collate and announce the result of an election subject to his or her verification and confirmation that the -
(a) number of accredited voters stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted directly from polling units under section 47 (2) of this Act ; and (b) “votes stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the votes or results recorded and transmitted directly from Polling Units under Section (60) (4) of this Act”.
Consequent on the above Section 60 (4) of the Electoral Act 2022, any result announced by INEC is ultra vires, illegal, and of no consequence unless they are results already transmitted DIRECTLY from the Polling Units. So procedurally, INEC cannot continue to announce results that are yet to be transmitted as expressly stated in the relevant Sections of the Electoral Act.
The law is that where the law has set out the procedures to be followed, that procedures and no other must be followed.
The argument that INEC guidelines have no force of law is idle and wayward arguments. This is not even the question of alterations of the results. It is a question of non-compliance with mandatory statutory provisions. The argument that it is only when the Chief Electoral Officer of the Federation announces the winner of the Presidential election that the results can be uploaded on the INE C portal cannot be correct. There must be uploading of results at the polling units after the polling officers had announced the winner at the polling units.
Finally, we call on the commission to thread on the path of honor by canceling the election outright and commence the process of a fresh election that will not only be credible but will be seen to be credible by Nigerians.
Being the text of the joint press conference by the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Dr Datti Ahmed on Tuesday, 28th of February, 2023 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
On Saturday, the 25th of February, 2023, Nigerians from the different parts of our great country braced all manner of challenges to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. And having cast their votes, they are expectantly awaiting the results of the presidential and National Assembly election. We wish to state for the records that last weekend’s election was a sham. It was neither free nor fair. What played out yesterday at the National Collation Center exposes the National Chairman of playing to a predetermined script. Our position remains that the election and transmission of the results must be in tandem with the Electoral Act and the INEC guidelines.
There is no doubt that INEC is under a statutory obligation to transmit election results electronically. Paragraph 38 of the INEC manual made pursuant to section 149 of the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 constitution as amended provides for this. That paragraph, which deals with the transmission of results at the polling units, is crucial, and it imposes statutory obligations on the part of INEC to upload polling units results on its portal.
There is no doubt that polling units results are the pyramid upon which other results are built. Therefore, it is required that the moment polls come to a close and the results are declared, the results must be uploaded on INEC server or portal.
Paragraph 38 of INEC Manual 2022 made pursuant to the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and section 149 of of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that: “On completion of all the Polling Unit voting and results procedures, the Presiding Officer shall: (i) Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit, direct to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission. (ii) Use the BVAS to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as prescribed by the Commission. (iii) Take the BVAS and the original copy of each of the forms in tamper evident envelope to the Registration Area/Ward Collation Officer, in the company of Security Agents. The Polling Agents may accompany the Presiding Officer to the RA/Ward Collation Centre.” It is mandatory and compulsory. INEC has no option. So, the failure to upload results and follow the procedures set out in paragraph 38 of the manual made pursuant to the Electoral Act 2022, is a fundamenal breach that has the potential of rendering the election results that did not follow those procedures null and void.
For clarity, Section 64 (4) (a) and (b) of the Electoral Act, 2022 specifically provide thus: “A collation officer or returning officer at an election shall collate and announce the result of an election subject to his or her verification and confirmation that the -
(a) number of accredited voters stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted directly from polling units under section 47 (2) of this Act ; and (b) “votes stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the votes or results recorded and transmitted directly from Polling Units under Section (60) (4) of this Act”.
Consequent on the above Section 60 (4) of the Electoral Act 2022, any result announced by INEC is ultra vires, illegal, and of no consequence unless they are results already transmitted DIRECTLY from the Polling Units. So procedurally, INEC cannot continue to announce results that are yet to be transmitted as expressly stated in the relevant Sections of the Electoral Act.
The law is that where the law has set out the procedures to be followed, that procedures and no other must be followed.
The argument that INEC guidelines have no force of law is idle and wayward arguments. This is not even the question of alterations of the results. It is a question of non-compliance with mandatory statutory provisions. The argument that it is only when the Chief Electoral Officer of the Federation announces the winner of the Presidential election that the results can be uploaded on the INE C portal cannot be correct. There must be uploading of results at the polling units after the polling officers had announced the winner at the polling units.
Finally, we call on the commission to thread on the path of honor by canceling the election outright and commence the process of a fresh election that will not only be credible but will be seen to be credible by Nigerians.
The Federal Governement has cautioned former president Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 General Elections with his inciting and provocative letter on the election.
In a statement by the Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed the Federal Government says it is glaring that the Obadanjo cunningly framed his letter as an appeal when in actual fact he was inciting violence.
Lai Mohammed said the former president in his time organized the worst election since Nigerias return to Democratic rule in 1999 and so not qualified to advise on a free fair and transparent election.
The Minster also reminded former president Obasanjo that organizing elections in Nigeria is no mean feat considering that the huge Voter population in the country is more than the total number of registered voters in 14 west African nations put together.
The Federal Government is also calling for restraint on those calling for the cancellation of the election to allow INEC conclude the announcement of the results of the Elections.
THE SPOKESPERSON OF THE OPPOSITION COALITION, CUPP, AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MEMBER ELECT, IDEATO NORTH AND SOUTH FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY IKENGA IMO-UGOCHINYERE SAYS THE ONGOING COLLATION OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND A POSSIBLE INVITATION TO ANARCHY THAT MUST BE AVERTED NOW BY IMMEDIATE HALT.
UGOCHINYERE IN A STATEMENT MADE AVAILABLE TO JOURNALISTS, SAID IT HAS COME TO THE CONCLUSION TO ADVISE THAT IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST, THE ONGOING COLLATION OF RESULTS BE HALTED IN VIEW OF THE COMPROMISE OF THE COLLATION PROCESS AND VIOLATION OF THE PROVISION OF THE ELECTORAL ACT.
THE ONGOING COLLATION OF RESULTS IS CONTRARY TO SECTION 64 (4) OF THE ELECTORAL ACT, WHICH STATES THAT A RETURNING OFFICER AT AN ELECTION CAN ONLY COLLATE AND ANNOUNCE THE RESULT OF AN ELECTION SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION AND CONFIRMATION THAT THE ACCREDITATION NUMBER AND VOTES STATED ON THE COLLATED RESULT ARE CORRECT AND CONSISTENT WITH VOTES OR RESULTS RECORDED AND TRANSMITTED DIRECTLY FROM THE POLLING UNITS.
HE QUERIED THAT THE RESULTS BEING COLLATED WERE NOT TRANSMITTED DIRECTLY FROM THE POLLING UNITS, BUT ARE ALLEGEDLY COOKED FIGURES BY SOME STATE GOVERNORS WHO WERE BEHIND THE COMPROMISE OF THE VOTERS REGISTER AND SHOULD BE STOPPED BEFORE THIS ILLEGALITY THROWS NIGERIA INTO NATIONAL CONFUSION.
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