January 17, (THEWILL) – A Chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, has explained that the police and military clash at the INEC office in Taraba State on March 20, 2023, led to the delay in results’ collation of the governorship election.
He said in the spirit of decency, decorum, discipline and sanity demonstrated in the judgement of the Supreme Court on the Kano guber tussle, the apex court should also declare Professor Yahaya Muhammed Bello of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as the winner of the last governorship election in Taraba State.
Ajadi, who is the Ogun State gubernatorial candidate of the NNPP in the 2023 election, said during the collation period, the NNPP sent a written complaint on Wukari result, claiming overvoting and results in variance with the results in iRev and accredited voters on BVAS and called for review.
He said that during the collation, the complaint was discussed based on the Electoral Act 2022 64(5) for possible review at the collation level because the results were alleged to have been doctored.
He said after lengthy deliberation, the INEC Legal Officer explained that the review would only be done in Abuja after the Application for Review.
Ajadi said that the review was jettisoned in Abuja as the INEC declared Kefas Agbu of PDP as the winner without reviewing the result as had been applied for by the NNPP.
He said based on what transpired at the election, the Supreme Court should declare the party’s governorship candidate in Taraba state, Professor Yahaya Muhammed Bello, as the winner of the March 18, 2023, election.
In an open letter of appeal to the Supreme Court, which he issued on Wednesday, Ajadi said the Supreme Court should, in the spirit of decency, decorum, discipline and sanity declare Professor Yahaya Muhammed Bello of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as the winner of the last governorship election in Taraba State.
Ajadi said Professor Muhammad Ahmad Abdulaziz, who was the Returning and Collation Officer in the Taraba Governorship Election, in his report, said, “That election took place in all the Sixteen Local Government Areas of the state on the 18th and 19th March 2023; that the results were collated at various levels; that the Collation at the State Level started on Sunday 19th March 2023 and ended in the early hours of Tuesday, the 21st March 2023; that there was shooting between the Police and Military attached to the INEC office on 20th March 2023, which delayed the collation of results.
“That the collation resumed around 5:00 pm on the same day with a lot of tension; during the collation, we received a written complaint from NNPP on Wukari result, claiming overvoting and in variance with the results in iRev and accredited voters on BVAS; that during the collation, the complaint was discussed based on the Electoral Act 2022 64(5) for possible review at collation level. That the results were alleged to be doctored. The Electoral Act 2022 64(6) was difficult to be implemented under duress and tension.
“After lengthy deliberation, the INEC Legal Officer explained to us that the review will only be done in Abuja after Application for Review.
“It is based on the above observations I write to request for the Review of Taraba State Governorship election result. This is as a result of the conviction that good leaders can only emerge through credible and transparent elections and the oath taken to be neutral.”
Ajadi said from the report of the Returning Officer, it was audible to the deaf and visible to the blind that the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and its candidate, Professor Yahaya Muhammed Bello, won the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Taraba State having scored the highest number of lawful votes.
He said the testimony that was given by Professor M .A. Yusuf, the Collation and Returning Officer for the Election in Taraba State in his protest and Complaint Letter to the INEC, which was backed by INEC Legal Adviser, shows that the NNPP candidate won.
He said this was jettisoned by the commission as it went ahead and declared Kefas Agbu of the PDP as the winner.
He said the gravity of the evidence of poll result’s manipulations led to evident overvoting from Wukari, aided by a shooting between the Army and the Police attached to the INEC collation office.
He said the tension was allegedly created by the Collation and Returning Officer of INEC, which made the review of the process impossible and necessitated the request for the review in Abuja which was accepted by all the parties involved.
Ajadi said the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce the result in Abuja without carrying out the review brought a lot of doubt, scepticism and questions, which led to the decision of the NNPP and its candidate to approach the Temple of Justice in Nigeria.
He said elections must represent the wishes and decisions of the people, adding: “Election must be done in a decent, peaceful and transparent manner that must be acceptable by all, not through the gun shooting, undue duress and tension as alleged by the Collation and Returning Officer of INEC in the Taraba State.
“It is worthy of note that the electorates have the right to choose their leaders through a transparent electoral process without being under duress and tension as well as getting their results doctored in favour of another interest group or party.
“The leadership of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) is appealing to the apex court to restore the hope of Nigerians in the electoral system and electoral process by giving a critical look into the complaints of the good people of Taraba State, who lawfully and genuinely voted for Yahaya Muhammed Bello of the NNPP as governor during the March 18, 2023, governorship election in the State. This will, to a large extent, normalise our electoral system and process and sanitise it reasonably for future elections.
“While we have the highest regard and hope in the Judiciary, most especially the apex court, we want to use this occasion to call on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to look into the activities of some Judicial officers in Nigeria whose activities raised serious questions, which is inimical to the integrity of not just the judiciary but our national and international reputations.”
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
