Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has admonished the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo States to redeem its image.
National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, disclosed this while speaking to journalists at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday.
PDP warned INEC that it would only accept results transmitted electronically during the November 11 governorship election in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo.
“The PDP notes that the INEC Chairman has confirmed that the use of BVAS and IREV in this election and even in previous elections is a mandatory statutory requirement of the law.
“The PDP holds INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, directly responsible and accountable to his pronouncements and that INEC is bound by law to electronically transmit results directly from the polling units using these technologies.
“The PDP is fully prepared for these elections and, in line with the commitment of INEC, will not accept any other means of transmitting results in these elections except as this manner pronounced by the INEC Chairman in line with the requirement of the Electoral Act, 2022,” Ologunagba stated.
Besides, PDP advised the commission to replace its resident electoral commissioner for Imo State, Sylvia Agu, to prevent a repeat of the electoral upheaval experienced in Adamawa State during the most recent governorship election.
Regarding the Imo State REC, Ologunagba stated that the PDP has repeatedly demanded the removal of Agu.
“The PDP and other political parties had written several letters to INEC. Recently, the political parties, including the PDP, LP, YPP, ADC, and AA, staged a peaceful protest to INEC demanding her immediate removal.”
He said this was based on how the REC acted during the 2023 House of Assembly and National Elections, where “she allegedly manipulated and brazenly assisted the APC in rigging the elections.”
The PDP spokesperson reminded the INEC Chairman that the integrity of an election process is related to the electorate’s confidence.
The INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, during a visit commission’s office in Kogi Local Government in Kotonkarfe to monitor a mock accreditation exercise in Lokoja on Saturday, assured voters that it would electronically transmit the governorship election results to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Yakubu assured voters in Kogi that voting in the November 11 governorship election in the state will commence at 8. 30 a.m.
