Manual results collation: Tension heightens as PDP, LP, 12 others kick
…Drama as Dino, Ihedioha, other party agents walk out of collation center
…Danger looms — Obasanjo raises alarm over presidential polls
…Seeks cancellation of results transmitted manually, alleges INEC compromise
…INEC server was attacked almost 162 times within 72 hours – APC chieftain, Atikase
…Says party agents have no right to interrupt electoral process
…INEC system driven by IT, stakeholders should sit back for final results – Tech Expert
…Don’t replicate June 1993 by truncating Nigeria’s democracy — APC to Obi, Atiku
…Tinubu calls for calm over loss of Lagos to LP
Joel Oladele, Abuja; Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta; Olaseinde Gbenga, Abuja; Moses Adeniyi
Tension over the outcome of the Saturday February 25, presidential election heightened on Monday as results announced from the ongoing collation process by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) attracted wild reactions from party agents.
A mild drama unfolded at the collation center of the 2023 presidential election in Abuja on Monday as the agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Dino Melaye and some other party agents staged a walkout.
The drama started around 4:30pm after the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) resumed the collation exercise of the February 25 presidential election results for the second day.
Melaye, who is also the spokesperson of PDP presidential campaign committee with the former governor of Imo State and agent of the Labour Party, Emeka Ihedioha, amongst others staged the walkout on the INEC officials over dissatisfaction on the process of the collation of results from the State Collation Officers for the Presidential election (SCOPs).
They added that the results presented by SCOPs were not uploaded on the IReV as repeatedly promised by the INEC before the election.
Melaye argued that the election is not in any way different from the manual transmission of results done in 2015 without uploading the results electronically on IReV.
The agents therefore urged INEC not to accept the results of Ekiti earlier declared, alleging that there were incidents of over-voting and electoral irregularities and called for suspension of the process until a due diligence is done to fish out the anomalies.
However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) agent, Babatunde Ogala (SAN) and others while presenting their argument against the aggrieved party agents said it is unconstitutional for any politician to interrupt INEC electoral process, adding that if anyone is not satisfied, such petition should be forwarded to the election tribunal.
The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu also maintained that there was no over-voting in Ekiti and that the results presented by the SCOPs stand and said the process must continue.
In reaction, Melaye, Ihedioha and others stormed out of the national collation centre but the collation continued in their absence as at the time of filing this report.
…INEC server was attacked almost 162 times within 72 hours — APC chieftain, Atikase
Speaking with the Nigerian NewsDirect on the development, a chieftain of APC in Ondo State, Hon. Otito Atikase said no party agent has the right to interrupt electoral process as only INEC has the constitutional right to conduct and collate the results.
He described the action of the agents as an attempt to save face having discovered that they have lost the elections via the results on their party’s situation room.
“INEC has been given the constitutional responsibility to conduct election and collate the results, so it is not the duty of an agent of a political party to determine the processes to be followed or to dictate to the INEC on what to do. It is the responsibility of INEC to follow the procedure as laid down by the electoral law.
“In an election of this nature, when you discover that your party can’t make it, you put up a bold face to save your face, that’s exactly what Dino has done.
“Before results are collated at INEC level, all the political parties would have collated their results via their situation rooms. So from what you have from your situation room, you would have known whether you won or lost. Having discovered that they have lost, they now want to see how they can manipulate the situation in order to give them victory.”
Speaking further, Hon. Atikase said the reason INEC doesn’t want to rely on results from IRev is because the server was attacked an hundred and sixty two times within 72 hours which was already a red flag.
However, he noted that the introduction of BVAS has not only brought orderliness into the electoral process, but has also helped to curb perennial challenge of over voting in Nigeria.
“Why INEC is relying on this manual collation is because when the election was collated at the unit level and brought to the national level, whatever they are collating here must have emanated from the unit level.
“INEC server was attacked almost 162 times within 72 hours. Because of that, INEC doesn’t want to rely on the server because they can break into it but this manual collation is very reliable and if any one of them has anything against the collation, at the end of the day when the result is declared, it’s their fundamental right to challenge the result at the tribunal level.
“Some of them are agitating now that they should nullify the election. When they won in Lagos and Katsina, they didn’t call for the nullification of the election. If you look at the pattern of the election, it’s different from what had happened in the past.
“In the past, somebody will just bring 1 million, 2 million votes without accreditation, but the introduction of BVAS has really brought in a kind of debacle, it has restrained everyone to follow the due process,” Atikase noted.
…INEC system driven by IT, stakeholders should sit back for final results — Tech Expert
In her reactions, Eminent Peace Ambassador, International Association of World Peace Advocate, Amb. Temitope Ajayi (popularly called Mama Diaspora), said it is important for all stakeholders to give decorum and allow the technology aided process to take its course.
Ajayi who is a tech expert, said the fact that the distinction between artificial intelligence which guides the new technology adopted by INEC is a clear deviation from the error prone human intelligence which used to be case in the past, demands that Nigerians sit back and allow the results be collated appropriately, while after the process, any aggrieved party can legally register his/her displeasure by approaching the court.
“When they collate, let them leave it to technology to give them accuracy. When we are talking of information technology (IT), we are talking of artificial intelligence – robotic. Everything has been programmed on the server,” he said.
Lamenting that some stakeholders are not willing to wait for the outcome, she said everything has to be subjected to due process.
“Why can’t they just seat back this time around?”she queried, affirming that the use of technology is a reliable development from the manual system which erstwhile used to be the practice.
“We have been doing it manually, but it never worked. For me, coming from California, Silicon Valley, Artificial Intelligence doesn’t make mistake. Everybody just wants to make mountain out of molehill. One person has to emerge as the leader whether we like it or not.
“The masses have spoken, that is democracy. Why don’t you all sit back?” she questioned, applauding the massive turn out, but appealed to all stakeholders to allow the process take its due course without interference.
“This is the age of technology. They should just allow INEC do the job and after the result is out any aggrieved party has the right to go to the tribunal. The election was peaceful, we are grateful for that, but let everybody sit back and await the result,” she submitted.
…Danger looms — Obasanjo raises alarm over presidential polls
Meanwhile, former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday, in a statement made available to journalists called on the Chairman of INEC to cancel results of Saturday presidential and National Assembly polls that were transmitted manually.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo also disclosed that some INEC officials were allegedly said to have been compromised to ensure that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as well as electronic transmission of election results introduced to improve on the credibility of the electoral processes failed in some parts of the Country.
Obasanjo warned that the nation could go up in flames if nothing is done to address the anomalies that had impugned on the credibility and fairness of the Saturday presidential elections.
The former President said that INEC had spent lot of money to procure BVAS machines as well as the servers for the immediate transmission of results from polling units but that it was no longer secret that some INEC officials, at operational level, have been allegedly compromised to make what should have worked not to work and to revert to manual transmission of results which was manipulated and the results doctored.
Obasanjo said that the Chairman of INEC may claim ignorance, but he cannot fold his hands and do nothing
when he knows that election process had been corrupted and most of the results that were brought outside BVAS and Server are not true reflection of the will of Nigerians who have made their individual choice.
He said, “At this stage, we do not need wittingly or unwittingly to set this country on fire with the greed, irresponsibility and unpatriotic act of those who allegedly gave money to INEC officials for perversion and those who collected the blood money.
“Let me appeal to the Chairman of INEC, if his hands are clean, to save Nigeria from the looming danger and disaster which is just waiting to happen. If the Chairman can postpone elections four days to the election, he can do everything to rectify the errors of the last two days – no BVAS, no result to be acceptable; and no uploading through Server, no result to be acceptable.”
Obasanjo who said he had since shared his observation with President Muammadu Buhari disclosed that, wherever it is observed that BVAS and Servers have been manipulated or rendered inactive, such results must be declared void and inadmissible for election declaration.
He therefore called on INEC boss to use this opportunity to mend his reputation and character for posterity.
Obasanjo told President Buhari Muhammadu that tension is already building up in the country, saying that all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test be cancelled and be brought back with areas where elections were disrupted for next Saturday, March 4, 2023 while the BVAS and Server officials are changed.
And to know which stations or polling units were manipulated, the former President said, “let a Committee of INEC staff and representatives of the four major political parties with the Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association look into what must be done to have hitch-free elections next Saturday. Mr. President, may your plan and hope for leaving a legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible election be realised.
“Mr. President, please don’t let anybody say to you that it does not matter or it is the problem of INEC. On no account should you be seen as part of the collusion or compromise. When the die is cast, it will be your problem as the Chief Executive of the nation. The Chairman of INEC may sneak out of the country or go back to his ivory tower. Your Excellency, thank you for hearing me out.”
Obasanjo however begged Nigerians to exercise patience until the wrong is righted saying that “I strongly believe that nobody will toy with the future and fortune of Nigeria at this juncture.”
Recall INEC had blamed technical hitches for the delay in uploading most results of the general election to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).
On Sunday, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye (Esq), assured Nigerians that results from the polling units, copies of which were issued to political parties, are safe on both the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and the IReV portal and cannot be tampered with.
He noted that unlike in off-season elections where the portal was used, it has been relatively slow and unsteady.
Okoye had stressed that the Commission regretted the setback, especially because of the importance of IReV in its results management process.
He had said, “The problem is totally due to technical hitches related to scaling up the IReV from a platform for managing off-season, State elections, to one for managing nationwide general elections. It is indeed not unusual for glitches to occur and be corrected in such situations.
“Consequently, the Commission wishes to assure Nigerians that the challenges are not due to any intrusion or sabotage of our systems, and that the IReV remains well-secured.”
The electoral body assured that its technical team was working assiduously to solve all the outstanding problems, adding that the users of the IReV would have noticed improvements since last night.
It added, “We also wish to assure Nigerians that results from the Polling Units, copies of which were issued to political parties, are safe on both the BVAS and the IReV portal.
“These results cannot be tampered with and any discrepancy between them and the physical results used in collation will be thoroughly investigated and remediated, in line with Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022.”
The Commission said while it fully appreciated the concerns of the public on this situation and welcomed various suggestions that it had received from concerned Nigerians, it was important to avoid statements and actions that could heat up the polity at this time or promote disaffection towards the Commission.
…Don’t replicate June 1993 by truncating Nigeria’s democracy — APC to Obi, Atiku
Meanwhile, the APC whose standard flagbearer in the 2023 presidential election is Bola Ahmed Tinubu has alleged that the PDP and Labour Party are planning a repeat of June 12, 1993, to truncate Nigeria’s democracy.
This came after the National Collation Agent for the PDP, Dino Melaye and other party agents walked out of the International Conference Centre in Abuja over alleged rigging.
Dino who walked out of the venue, used for the collation of the presidential result on Monday, alleged that INEC has been compromised and the election was rigged in favour of the ruling APC.
He said, “Having observed that the Chairman of INEC is determined to rig the elections by making sure that results are not uploaded, by vehemently making a presentation that makes it look as if we are all here to rubber-stamp the fraud cooked between INEC and the APC, we are saying we are not here to rubberstamp the electoral fraud that have been prepared by INEC and the APC.
“We are Nigerians. There is nowhere on the server that results have been uploaded. The political parties here staged a walkout to express the unfortunate politicisation and commercialisation of our electoral process.”
However, reacting in a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs and Chief Spokesperson, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Festus Keyamo, the APC said, “We have it on good authority that the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party have perfected plans to finally scuttle our democracy and throw the country into constitutional crises by surreptitiously obtaining exparte court orders stopping the announcement of the Presidential Election results which they fear have gone against them.
“The walk-out they staged today at the National Collation Center is just a precursor to executing the plan Nigerians would recall that the June 12, 1993 debacle that brought Nigeria to its knees and caused our country international isolation was precipitated by a court injunction stopping the announcement of Presidential Election results.
“The court order was obtained by a certain Association for Better Nigeria headed then by one Chief Authur Nzeribe. This is exactly what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi want to foist on this nation again because of their inordinate ambitions.
“However, we wish to draw the attention of Nigerians, the Judiciary and the world to the provisions of section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act which prohibits the grant of injunctions to the stop the holding of elections (which includes the declaration of results).
“The section states nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general elections under this Act pending the determination of a suit.
“Subsequently changed at a Collation Centre. All we hear are sound bites of their spokespersons, huffing and puffing about winning the election just to whip up public sentiments to prepare the ground to reject the results when they are eventually released by INEC.
“For us our position is very simple and straight forward: we wish to allow the legal process of declaring presidential election results to take place peacefully and in an orderly fashion. Asiwaju is not desperate, but is very confident of victory.
“We therefore wish to advise anyone who wishes to aid and encourage these candidates along this infamous part to remember the June 12 debacle. They may also wish to learn a lesson or two from President Muhammadu Buhari who resorted to the court of law in 2003, 2007 and 2011.
“When same PDP ‘defeated’ him in those presidential elections in controversial circumstances. President Buhari, as a true statesman and democrat, never resorted to underhand tactics to declare himself President. We hope a word is enough for the wise.”
…Tinubu calls for calm over loss of Lagos to LP
Meanwhile, as tension heightened in Lagos, the APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has appealed to the people of Lagos State to be calm and eschew any act that can lead to the breakdown of law and order.
Tinubu said the outcome of the election in Lagos where Labour Party won the presidential election should not be a source of provocation, saying that the beauty of democracy is that people have a right to vote for the candidate of their choice.
The APC candidate further said that as a democrat, he is bound to accept the outcome of any election whether favourable or not.
In a statement on Monday, signed by Director of Media and Publicity, APC PCC, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu expressed serious concern over reports of violence in parts of the State, especially reported attacks on some traders of Igbo origin.
The former Lagos State Governor condemned any form of violence against people of any ethnic group in Lagos.
“The fact that the APC narrowly lost Lagos State to another party should not be the reason for violence. As a democrat, you win some, you lose some. We must allow the process to continue unhindered across the country while we maintain peace and decorum,” the statement said.
Peter Obi defeated Bola Ahmed Tinubu, after the votes were calculated from all the 20 LGAs in the state.
Final results declared by the electoral office showed Obi won 582,454 for Labour Party against Tinubu’s 572,606 for the APC.
The PDP’s Atiku Abubakar came a distant third in the results with 75,750 votes, NNPP had 8,442, while SDP had 772.
According to INEC, accredited voters were 1,347,152, and the total valid votes were 1,271,451. Rejected votes were 64,278.
Meanwhile, as at the time of filing this report, the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu is leading with 6.2million having won in 13 States (Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Kwara, Kogi, Bayelsa, Benue, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa, Bornu).
The PDP candidate, Atiku, is following with a vote count of 4.5million, won in 10 States (Kebbi, Osun, Katsina, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Adamawa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom).
The LP candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, is third in vote count, with 3.5million votes won in 12 states (Taraba, Plateau, Lagos, Edo, FCT Abuja, Imo, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi); while Rabiu Kwankwaso of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) is on a distant fourth with 942,588, having won in Kano State.
