FORMER Assistant Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Publisher of Kakaki Reporters, Midat Joseph has said that the recently conducted gubernatorial election in Kaduna State was a charade.
He alleged that different election results were uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission Election Result Viewing portal.
He called on the electoral body to upload the real results of the Kaduna governorship election in the IReV portal within one week or risk litigation.
Midat said the votes of the people of Kaduna did not reflect in the IReV portal, adding that the certified copy with agents of political parties is entirely different from what the commission uploaded.
Midat, who also called for the prosecution of the perpetrators of such an act, insisted that INEC should review the entire results of the election in Kaduna State.
“The commission should review the results because it is the INEC staff that are aiding politicians to rig the elections,” Midat said, adding that in Makera ward in the Kaduna South local government area, soldiers took over the collation centre and prevented journalists from having access.
“This country must be salvaged; Nigeria must be saved because many people may not want to go out to vote if this kind of injustice is allowed to stand. This crime cannot be allowed to go freely. If such injustice is not addressed, I will go to court to ensure that those who perpetrated such evil are prosecuted,” Midat said.
“In the case of Kaduna State, the winners of the polls have been announced, but the elections were not without various forms of malpractices deliberately orchestrated by some officials of the electoral commission.
“In summary, the 18th March polls conducted in Kaduna State were devoid of transparency. There were reported cases of suppression, intimidation and harassment of voters, corruption of the electoral process, and manipulation of election results by officials of the electoral commission, among other challenges.
“In line with my guaranteed constitutional rights as enshrined in chapter 4, section 39(1) and Chapter 2 section 22 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, I have invited you here to speak on the performance of INEC as well as unveil part one of my findings and to let Nigerians and the international community know that what took place in Kaduna State was simply a charade that must not be allowed to stand.
“The militarisation of the election in Makera Ward, Kaduna South Local Government Area, with particular concern with results of Makera ward uploaded on the IReV portal, the results on the server did not reflect the true outcome of the polling units. The uploaded results did not agree with duplicate copies given to party agents.
“For example, the result of polling unit 006 where I voted is not what was posted on the IReV portal. My findings reveal that the actual and certified true copy of the election results in more than 20 polling units in the just concluded March 18th Governorship and Houses of Assembly elections were not uploaded in the Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV), but manipulated results were uploaded in the INEC’s IReV portal.
“For example, the actual results of polling unit 006, State Constituency, the All Progressives Congress (APC) got 3 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 246 votes.
“Unbelievably, the result of the same polling units that is uploaded on IReV portal has APC scoring 465, while the PDP scoring 0 votes. In another polling unit 035, APC got 45 votes, while PDP got 102 votes, but the fake result posted on IReV portal shows APC got 145 votes and PDP got 0.
“Also in polling unit 050, APC got 28 votes, PDP got 62 votes as the actual result of the election, but the result posted on the IReV portal shows that APC got 201 votes, while PDP got 3 votes. In polling unit 074 inside LEA Baban Dodo II, APC got 31 while PDP scored 13, but the result posted on the IReV portal shows APC scored 131 and PDP scored 13.
“This irregularity is spread across more than 20 polling units in the Kaduna State Governorship and State Houses of Assembly results as shown in the table below.
“If this democracy must thrive, the sanctity of the ballot must be upheld at all times, we cannot continue this violation of democracy and expect a better society. Those who perpetrated this crime against our democracy must not be allowed to escape the long arm of the law.”
“I choose to speak because of my strong belief in a better Nigeria. We can’t get things right by keeping quiet in the face of lawlessness. I plead with INEC to do the needful by reviewing the Makera Ward results in order to reflect the wishes of the electorates,” Midat added.
