.. Bribery claim can’t be substantiated- INEC

By Chioma Onuegbu, Uyo

The candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, for Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika Federal constituency, in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Clement Jimbo has alleged plot by some officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to manipulate the outcome of the supplementary poll scheduled for April 15, 2023.

Jimbo who made the allegation while addressing newsmen yesterday in Uyo, also alleged that several high level meetings have been held by interested persons within the PDP to strategize on how to militarize the supplementary election though heavy deployment of political thugs, fake policemen and fake soldiers.

His words: “As part of this fraudulent scheme, a plan has been hatched by some officials of the Commissíon, acting in concert with their sponsors in the PDP, to illegally increase the number of polling units where supplementary election is to hold in the federal consituency

“This fraudulent scheme has now been substantiated by a worrisome publication on the Commission’s website to the effect that the April 15, 2023 supplementary election for Abak/ Etim Ekpo/ Ika Federal Constituency will be held in 25 polling units.

“We have undertaken a rigorous verification and investigation of the listed 25 polling units as published by the Commission. We found to our chagrin, that the Commission has not offered cogent and verifiable reasons, on the basis for isolating the said 25 polling units for supplementary election.

“A list published on the Commission’s website, indicates that the Commission is planning to hold supplementary election for the federal constituency in 25 polling units.

“Our fears have been further confirmed by the fact that some of the polling units listed in the publication were added arbitrarily, despite that election took place in the units and votes were scored, counted, recorded, declared, signed by agents of various political Parties and even transmitted to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV)”

The APC candidate identified such polling units in his federal consituency to include,
Abak Urban III, Primary School, Oku Abak in Abak LGA, Odoro 1, Village Square, Ikot Onono
Odoro 1, Nto Ukpong Ntia both in Ika LGA and
Polling unit at Primary School, Nto Edet, Ward 5, Etim Ekpo LGA.

He stressed that it was clear that the plan to hold supplementary election in those polling units where election was sinister, illegal as well as part of a well orchestrated scheme by compromised INEC officials to manipulate the election in favour of the PDP

He called on the INEC Chairman and the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the State to take the issues he raised seriously and also to review the number of polling units where the supplementary election is expected to take place.

He also demanded for the replacement of the Electoral Officer (EO) of Etim Ekpo LGA, alleging that the neutrality of the said EO has been undermined.

In his contribution, Jimbo’s Lawyer, Mr. Inibehe Effiong, who regretted that INEC did not offer any explanation for declaring the Abak/Etim Ekpo/ Ika Federal consituency election of February 25th inconclusive, stressing that according to section 24 of the 2022 Electoral Act, for the INEC to postpone an election it must give factual and verifiable reasons.

“Why are we now seeing polling units where election actually took place , results counted and even agents of political parties signed on the declared results if the intention is not to rig and manipulate the outcome of the supplementary election.

“This morning I submitted a petition to the Chairman of INEC in Abuja and the Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Commissioner to put them on notice that this criminality will not be tolerated”, Effiong said.

However, when contacted, a senior INEC official who spoke to Vanguard in confidence, assured that regarding the 25 polling units listed for the supplementary poll would be looked into before the April 15, even as he, denied allegation that some of them have been compromised stressing: “Such claims made cannot be substantiated”

Also reacting, the PDP through its publicity Secretary, Mr Boronno Bassey described allegation of Conniving with some electoral Officers to rig the election as untrue.

“Now this popular chorus is usually sang in public when a candidate of an opposing political party sense that they will be unable to mobilise the largest number of votes needed to win in a contest.

“However, experiences have confirmed that when Candidates of opposition parties begin to make these unfounded allegations ahead of their imminent defeat, they usually try to descend into criminal levels of desperation which may manifest in the form of elections violence and trying to disrupt the poll.

“We therefore want to alert the security agencies that if anything goes wrong before, during and after the elections, the candidate of the APC should be held responsible. In line with the new guidelines for the conduct of the elections, results are to be declared in each of the polling units and results transmitted via the BVAS.

“What is done at the collation centre is merely to add up the figures declared at these units and consequently announce the winner”, the PDP image maker asserted.