The ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) yesterday cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against
celebrating the alleged confirmation of the existence of a central election
results transmission server by an Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) official.
Relying on the video, which has
gone viral, the PDP said claims by its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar,
of the existence and functionality of the server had been vindicated.
Atiku and the PDP are insisting
that the results tendered by their lawyers at the Presidential Election
Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) are the authentic presidential poll figures.
In the said video, a top INEC
official was seen confirming the existence of a central election results
transmission server.
The official also confirmed that
the commission would put the central server to use for the presidential
election.
The figures alleged to have been
obtained by Atiku from the server have become the main plank of the PDP
candidate’s argument before the tribunal.
In the result announced by IINEC
Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, President Muhammadu Buhari of APC polled
15,191,847 votes to Atiku’s 11,262,978.
Buhari beat the PDP candidate
with a margin of 3,928,869 votes.
But citing results from the
server, Atiku claimed that he defeated Buhari with over 1.6 million votes.
The electoral umpire has since
denied the existence of the server before the tribunal.
The PDP, through its spokesman,
Kola Ologbodiyan, alleged that the trending video has unsettled the Presidency.
But spokesman for the Buhari
Presidential Election Campaign Council Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), dismissed the PDP claim as “pure entertainment”.
The tribunal, he said, would be
guided by the electoral law and not by social media videos, which according to
Ologbodiyan “speaks volumes about the reported denial by INEC of the existence
of such a server for the 2019 general elections.”
According to the PDP spokesman,
the APC team has been in a frenzy to distract the tribunal by externalising its
proceedings.
He said: ”This is in addition to the Presidency’s
feverish attempt to divert public attention by engaging in judicial
interpretations and hurling insults on our party and candidate, Atiku Abubakar,
over our determination to retrieve our stolen mandate in court.
“The lesson for all in the latest
episode is in the undying verity that no matter how long falsehood appears to
thrive, the truth will always come to light and prevail at the end of the day.
”Instead of this pitiable resort
to frenetic and chaotic play to the gallery, the PDP counsels President Buhari
and his team to focus on facing the course of justice at the tribunal.”
Cautioning the PDP against
rejoicing over unsubstantiated claims on the social media, Keyamo said the
tribunal would be guided in its ruling by the electoral law.
Keyamo described the videos on
INEC’s plan to transmit results to the server as mere entertainment.
He said while INEC might have
planned to transmit the results electronically, what matters most is if it
actually did.
The senior advocate tweeted
yesterday: “Without referring to any particular pending election petition,
there’s need to generally guide Nigerians not to gullibly fall for the fantasy
created by any video circulating where INEC official(s) spoke of INEC’s plan to
electronically transmit results before the elections.
“The video(s) of some INEC
official(s) expressing intention to electronically transmit results are only
circulated for entertainment. That procedure is neither contained in the
Electoral Act nor in INEC’s Guidelines. Courts are only guided by these
documents and not such videos.
“Also, what you plan to do may be
different from what you actually did. Assuming INEC planned to transmit
electronically, the moment it said after the election that it did not do so,
the matter ends there especially as the Electoral Act & the Guidelines do
not allow it to do so.”
“Without referring to any
particular pending election petition, there’s a need to generally guide
Nigerians not to gullibly fall for the fantasy created by any video circulating
where INEC official(s) spoke of INEC’s plan to electronically transmit results
before the elections.
“The video(s) of some INEC
official(s) expressing intention to electronically transmit results are only
circulated for entertainment. That procedure is neither contained in the
Electoral Act nor in INEC’s Guidelines. Courts are only guided by these
documents and not such videos.”
Atiku and the PDP have invited 13
presiding officers from Yobe and Borno states to testify before the tribunal.
The electoral officials claimed that they uploaded results from the polling
units in their states to the server.
But Keyamo alleged that some
people connived with some INEC staff to upload results to the website of the
electoral body, adding: “the fact that electronic transmission didn’t happen
destroyed their plan”.
Keyamo said: “According to to
him, those who actually planned to steal the people’s mandate are the ones
crying foul.
“In anticipation of the
electronic transmission, some crooks concocted fictitious results and perhaps
in connivance with certain INEC insiders (or by hacking) tried to upload those
results into the server. The fact that electronic transmission didn’t happen
destroyed their plan.
“The irony is that the real
cheats are the ones struggling to create a narrative that they were cheated;
the real crooks are the ones struggling to convince everyone that the system is
crooked; those who actually planned to steal the people’s mandate are the ones
crying foul.
“The noise about electronic
transmission of INEC results is akin to a student who wants to cheat in an exam
and enters the hall with prepared answers, not noticing that the set questions
are not exactly framed as expected. So, when he’s later told he failed, he says
it’s impossible!
“In anticipation of the
electronic transmission, some crooks concocted fictitious results and perhaps
in connivance with certain INEC insiders (or by hacking) tried to upload those
results into the server. The fact that electronic transmission didn’t happen
destroyed their plan.”
INEC had dismissed Atiku’s claims
as false, saying the results were fabricated as it never transmitted election
results to its server.
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