Rivers Youths Apprehend INEC Officials Thumb Printing Ballot Papers

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News, Nigeria 2015 Election Monday, April 6th, 2015

Vigilant youths in Bori, the Khana Local Govt Area of Rivers State, have caught some officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) thumb printing at the Commission’s office, three days after the declaration of the results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The youths who allegedly acted on a tip off were able to video the officials and others that supervised the thumb printing; which further cripples the claim by INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega that there was no substantial evidence to cancel the elections in Rivers State.

One of the officials under condition of anonymity disclosed that the mass thumb printing, days after the election, was to justify the results tendered and provide evidence in preparation for tribunal.

The ballot papers from the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections were allegedly thumb printed by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP members.

This move by the PDP is coming at a time the people of the area are mourning the yet to be investigated murder of three APC supporters in cold blood; one of them killed by a soldier; strengthening the believe of a collaboration between INEC, security agents and PDP to rig elections in Rivers State.

Prof. Attahiru Jega, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had during the collation of votes of the March 28 elections admitted results, which indicated that PDP scored 1,487,075 to APC’s 69,238 votes from Rivers State.

The INEC boss claimed that there was no substantial evidence to cancel election results in Rivers State, based on the report of an investigative committee that visited Port Harcourt, but acknowledged administrative deficiencies during the conduct of the polls.

The APC in Rivers State challenged Jega’s claims, observing that “even a child will not believe that a state like Rivers, controlled by the party, that it would record less than 70, 000 votes without a single candidate as against the opposition party scoring over 1.4 million”.

The party questioned the rationale behind the said investigative committee meeting with only Gesila Khan, Rivers REC, in whom it had long lost confidence and perhaps the PDP being principally the parties whose misconduct it was meant to investigate.

Senator Magnus Abe, Rivers South-East Senatorial candidate of the APC who received the electoral materials from the Khana youths urged the CID unit of the police to commence a full scale investigation and prosecute the INEC and police officials involved in the fraud.

“As you can see before me are INEC ballot papers from Khana. At about 12noon (Thursday), youths stumbled on some INEC officials in their office in Bori, where they brought in presiding officers and supervisors to thumbprint ballot papers and doctored results all in favour of PDP”, he said.

“I called the Area Commander, Bori and the DPO who told me the INEC officials were in Bori to collect their stipends on the last elections; I called CP Karma, who asked me to report the matter to the CID; I decided to inform the Nigerian public before proceeding to the police CID”.

Abe called on the INEC chairman, Prof. Jega to urgently effect the redeployment of the Rivers State REC, Gesila Khan before the April 11 guber elections for showing executive recklessness in collaboration with PDP and the police and sued for the cancellation of the concocted elections, insisting that the votes counted in favour of the PDP were not cast by Rivers people.