As President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) open their defence Monday at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation has warned the electoral umpire against tampering with INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) to give 25 per cent of the votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour
Party (LP), and their presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi,
respectively, had closed their cases penultimate Friday.
But a statement issued yesterday by the
Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation alleged that INEC was trying to yield to
pressure to tinker with the results of some states, including the FCT to enable
the ruling APC to be in good standing.
The statement, which was signed by the Head
of the Media Office of the campaign organisation, Mr. Diran Onifade, quoted the
Campaign Manager of the organisation, Mr. Oseloka H. Obaze as saying in a tweet
that intelligence reports showed that INEC was trying to tinker with the
declared results of the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
Onifade said: “According to our source, INEC
is tempering with the machines used in the election to adjust FCT results to
give the APC candidate, the much-needed 25 per cent, which he did not get as
per the initial INEC declaration and for which he is being challenged at the
Presidential election tribunal.
“It’s not clear how the electoral commission
can brazenly carry out such bizarre action but given the abracadabra they did
to announce the APC Candidate winner by 4 a.m., there is nothing to be taken
for granted.
“Obaze warns that INEC and the ruling APC may
be taking the adherence to the rule of law and due process disposition of Nigerians
in general and the ‘Obidient’ movement in particular for granted, but it would
be courting catastrophe for them to want to pour salt into an open wound
inflicted on Nigeria’s electorate.
“The former United Nations diplomat reminded
INEC that what they are trying to do is tantamount to raising a dead horse and
that whether reports were fake or real, the commission should know the level of
public confidence in them has long eroded,” Onifade added.
The PDP and the LP, as well as their
candidates, have since closed their case against Tinubu and the APC, while the
ruling party, its candidate, and the electoral umpire will open their defence
tomorrow.
Before the commencement of the hearing, the
two political parties and their candidates had disclosed that they had lined up
150 witnesses for their cases.
While Atiku and PDP said they would line up
100 witnesses to give evidence in support of their joint petitions challenging
the outcome of the election, Obi and LP told the court that they would call 50
witnesses.
However, while closing their cases on June
21, the two political parties and their candidates ended up presenting 40
witnesses in total.
Atiku and PDP called 27 witnesses, while Obi
and LP called 13.
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