The Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has declared that Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) is working in concert with Governor Mohammed
Abdullahi Abubakar, to rob Bauchi people of their mandate.
The Speaker, in a press statement
on Friday, stated that emerging facts show that the Bauchi Resident Electoral
Commissioner (REC), Ibrahim Abdullahi, is working in tandem with the governor
of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, to use all available means to
tilt the governorship election results in favour of the incumbent governor.
Dogara therefore called on the
international community including the International Criminal Court, governments
of United States of America, United Kingdom and the European Union to hold the
Nigerian government and the security agencies responsible if any life is lost
before, during and after the re-run polls.
One method that has been deployed
for this, he disclosed, is the use of the military to intimidate people during
the polls and to rig elections in favour of the APC.
Dogara added that the plot to
conduct a supplementary election was conceived by the REC, who is in cohort
with the governor, to provide an avenue for votes to be rigged to increase the
number of votes that governor garnered in the previous election, thereby
increasing his chances of winning an election he has already lost.
He highlighted facts that clearly
show that the Bauchi REC is working against the will of the people, citing
examples of intentional delays in announcing results and tinkering with
election procedures in order to favour the APC.
The Speaker added that in
“deliberately delaying the collation of Tafawa Balewa votes by Bauchi Resident
Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ibrahim Abdullahi, in anticipation of an ex-parte
order which was obeyed even before it was enrolled and served on INEC National
Chairman in Abuja” and hastily saying he will obey the order that was not
served on him, the REC has shown bias in favour of the Bauchi governor.
“The world must also note that
the enemies of Bauchi people have stalled the collation of Tafawa Balewa votes
to allow Governor MA Abubakar the opportunity through the illegal Saturday’s
supplementary elections to fraudulently raise enough votes to cover the margin
between him and Senator Bala Mohammed.
“If he succeeds in this on
Saturday- Godforbid-then by Monday the world will be told that the ex-parte
order granted by the Federal High Court Abuja has been vacated to enable
collation of Tafawa Balewa votes which will now pave way for Governor MA to be
declared winner with whatever margin he makes from the supplementary elections.
“If, on the other hand, Gov MA
Abubakar is unable to exceed the margin of lead from the votes he may
fraudulently allocate to himself from the supplementary elections, then Tafawa
Balewa votes will be hotly contested so that he can have another opportunity of
rigging his way back to power having been overwhelmingly rejected by the people
of Bauchi state.
“So, Bauchi people and, indeed,
the world should know that the chief facilitator of this evil plot is no other
person than the Bauchi REC Ibrahim Abdullahi in collaboration with rogue
elements within the security services.
“We also have it on good
authority that security personnel have been deployed to all the affected
Polling Units with the specific instruction to rig the election for Governor MA
Abubakar even if people will be killed.”
He added that other facts that prove
his assertion include, “Total disregard of the INEC chairman’s directives by
Bauchi REC to release details of total PVCs issued and collected in respect of
the 29 Registration Areas and 36 Polling Units where cancellation of votes took
place and supplementary elections is supposed to hold in Bauchi state on
Saturday. Our political party wrote to him twice and yet he refused to release
the details of total number of PVCs collected. Therefore, the only reason to
explain this is that massive fraud is being orchestrated by the REC
“The declaration by Bauchi REC
that he will proceed with supplementary elections in some units where elections
were cancelled when the main elections is yet to be concluded in Bauchi state
in contravention of the provisions of Section 26 (4) and 53 (4) of the
Electoral Act and paragraphs 33(a) & (e), 34 (e) of the Regulations and
Guidelines for the conduct of elections issued by INEC and sections 26 and 53
of the Electoral Act.
“As long as collation of Tafawa
Balewa votes remains outstanding by virtue of the court order, the governorship
elections in Bauchi state have not been concluded and therefore there ought not
to have supplementary elections until collation of Tafawa Balewa votes is
completed and the margin of lead between the candidates is determined according
to law.
“Bauchi REC should tell the World
whether INEC can order a rerun elections in units where elections were
cancelled as a result of over-voting as against those where there were hitches.
“Cancellation due to over-voting
is supposed to be punitive and such units should never be rewarded with the
opportunity for supplementary elections as doing so is akin to allowing a
student caught cheating in an exams to rewrite the exams.
“The world should know that
almost all the units where supplementary elections are ordered by Bauchi REC
were cancelled due to over-voting except in only one where election were
canceled as a result of violence.”
Dogara revealed that for the REC,
the whole exercise may be an avenue to settle old scores as “we have it on good
authority that when the Bauchi REC Ibrahim Abdullahi had problems with his
former employers he sought the intervention of Senator Bala Mohammed (then FCT
minister) to take up the matter with the President which didn’t yield any
outcome, and that he has openly boasted to his confidants that he will do
whatever it is within his power not to return Senator Bala Mohammed as
Governor-elect.
“The world should ask whether his
personal squabbles with Sen Bala Mohammed is enough for him to rob Bauchi
people of the mandate they have freely given to Senator Bala Mohammed.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com