- We won’t disobey court orders on Presidential Election – INEC
By Daniel Kanu
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday cautioned the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, against plunging the country into “a monumental crisis, by refusing to obey the Court of Appeal order to release the election materials used for the conduct of the February 23 presidential poll.
The party accused INEC, by this action, of “blatantly standing in the way of
justice and working against the will of the people in their quest to
salvage the nation and reclaim their stolen mandate at the tribunal.”
A statement by the national publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said, “The continued refusal of INEC to release the electoral materials to the
PDP and our legal team is completely provocative and shows that the
commission is working in cahoots with the All Progressives Congress
(APC) and the Buhari Presidency to frustrate the PDP, our candidate,
Atiku Abubakar, and majority of Nigerians from retrieving our mandate at
the tribunal.”
“INEC and the APC are apprehensive that the materials, particularly the
forms EC8D and EC40G covering the nation in addition to the report of
the Smart Card Readers used in the Presidential election will show at
the tribunal that the PDP and Atiku Abubakar clearly won the
Presidential election.
The PDP has been reliably informed of how the APC and some compromised top officials of INEC have been boasting that they will never allow these materials and documents to be released to the PDP legal team.
“This is the reason the APC and INEC manufactured a groundless claim that
the form EC8D, EC40G and the reports of the card readers were not
specifically captured in the order of the court whereas the court was
unequivocal in its order that all materials used for the election be
made available to our legal team.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Court of Appeal, among other orders,
directed INEC to release and allow our legal team to “inspect, scan,
forensically audit and make copies of forms EC4OA, EC8A, EC8AVP, EC8B,
EC8C, EC8E and all other electoral forms and materials including, but
not limited to ballot papers and voters registers and materials used for
the conduct of the presidential election, held across Nigeria on the
23rd of February, 2019, for the purpose of instituting and maintaining
an election petition”.
“The refusal of INEC to release forms EC8D, EC40G and the reports of the
card readers is therefore a deliberate and vicious disobedience to the
orders of the court for which the management of INEC should be charged
for contempt.
“The PDP calls on Nigerians to note that INEC, having rigged the election
in favour of APC, is now seeking ways to frustrate our petition at the
tribunal. We therefore charge INEC, having been exposed, to end its
shenanigan and release these documents without further delay.”
But INEC on Monday promised to respect all court orders relating to the ongoing petitions at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Information, Barrister Festus Okoye, made the pledge in a statement Monday night in Abuja.
He said; “The Independent National Electoral Commission is aware that there are petitions pending before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
“The Commission is also aware that issues have been joined in the said petitions as the petitioners have filed their petitions and the respondents have responded to the petitions. The Commission as one of the respondents in the Petition filed by the PDP and its Presidential Candidate has responded to the said Petition.
“The Commission is aware that very senior lawyers are representing the Petitioners and the respondents in relation to the said petitions. The Commission is a law-abiding institution and will not argue or canvass in the media, petitions that are sub-judice and where the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal is firmly seized of the issues.
“The Lawyers representing the Petitioners are seized of the state of the law and the course to take if they truly believe that the Commission is in disobedience of the orders of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal. The Commission is a law-abiding institution and will continue to accord the requisite respect to judicial institutions and obey the orders of court”, he said.
