In response to baseless and defamatory allegations made against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has threatened to take legal action against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties.
On Friday night in Abuja, the warning was delivered by Mr. Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi, who serves as the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC Chairman.
Earlier on Friday, the People’s Democratic Party held a press conference in Abuja, where they accused Prof. Yakubu of rigging the elections for president and the national assembly that took place on February 25. They also claimed that the head of INEC is planning to rig the elections for governor and state assembly that will take place on March 18, beginning with the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Oyekanmi, on the other hand, stated that the PDP’s most recent call for the resignation of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman of INEC is misguided and that the party has made similar calls in the past.
“It is interesting to note that the PDP did not present any convincing evidence to back up any of the baseless allegations that it listed as Prof. Yakubu’s ‘infractions.’
“To be sure, the PDP did not provide any evidence to substantiate the allegations of Yakubu’s ‘brazen violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines, and criminal manipulation and alteration of election results,'” he went on to say. “To be clear, the PDP failed to provide any evidence to substantiate the allegations of Yakubu’s ‘brazen violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022
According to him, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) did not provide any evidence to back up its claims that Professor Yakubu “sabotaged the uploading and transmission of results from polling units,” despite the fact that the PDP made these allegations.
He stated that “aside from that, the ‘numerous pieces of evidence’ that the PDP claimed ‘abound in the six geo-political zones of the country where winning figures scored by the PDP were switched in favor of the APC’ were also not laid out in plain sight.”
“Without a doubt, the commission does not manipulate the voting process. Rather, the BVAS has, since its introduction along with other innovations, ensured that only voters who are properly registered are allowed to vote on Election Day. This is one of the ways that it has ensured the integrity of the electoral process.
According to the spokesman for the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it is common knowledge that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the outcome of the presidential election and has vowed to challenge it in court.
Therefore, the path of honor for the party is to pursue its case in court, equipped with all of the evidence at its disposal, and wait for the decision of the court.
“But going about canvassing the same issues the party intends to plead in court on the pages of newspapers and calling for the resignation of the Chairman of INEC is like putting the cart before the horse,” said the candidate. “It is like putting the cart before the horse.”
“More importantly, the PDP is hereby reminded that making libelous allegations against the person of the INEC Chairman is actionable,” the statement continued. “The party ought to immediately stop engaging in that practice,” Oyekanmi advised.