Few days after Professor Attahiru Jega admitted
results of the March 28 election in Rivers State, described by political
pundits as a sham, vigilant Khana Youths have caught some officials of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) thumb printing at the
Commission's office in Bori, Headquarters of Khana Local Govt Area.
The Youths who acted on a tip off were able to video
the officials and others that supervised the thumb printing; which further
cripples Jega's claim that there was no substantial evidence to cancel the
elections in Rivers State.
One of the officials under condition of anonymity
disclosed that the action was arrived at, 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 all being thumb printed, PDP.
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 thousand 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.
Continuing Abe 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 decide to inform the Nigerian public before proceeding to the police
CID”.
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