INEC denies falsifying Abia election result
The Independent National Electoral Commission has debunked a report that accused its chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, of attempting to manipulate the results of the governorship election in Abia State.
The Returning Officer for Abia, Nnenna Oti, was quoted on the website as claiming that she was being forced to do the wrong thing.
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According to the website, Nnenna Oti, the INEC presiding officer for Abia State, stated the following:
Professor Nnenna Oti from Afikpo is my name. I am the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology in Owerri, and the mandate of the people shall be upheld. I have devoted my entire adult life to the pursuit of good governance ideals.
We will adhere to these principles. The pastor in me (she is a pastor with the RCCG) and the mother in me will not allow me to do anything that will harm our children’s future. I will do the right thing by God and man!
“Then, to the astonishment of everyone in the room, she stated that INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu personally called her and gave her directives on guidelines to follow in ensuring that Abia governorship election results were collated based on certain criteria, but that she had decided that the will of Abia voters would not be subverted under her watch.
“At that time, she requested that the Administrative Secretary read the message she claimed to have received from the Abuja headquarters of INEC.”
INEC’s Response
In response, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, stated on Tuesday that the only communication sent to the state Returning Officer was the commission’s directive to halt further results collation.
Oyekanmi stated, “The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, never called the Returning Officer to give her instructions.” Instead, the Returning Officer desired the official communication regarding the Commission’s decision to halt the collation of results in Abia State.
“The Chairman then ordered that the soft copies of the Commission’s letter be sent immediately to the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Enugu State and the Administrative Secretary of Abia State, pending the delivery of the hard copies.
“The Returning Officer for Abia State then directed that the Administrative Secretary read the contents of the letter aloud in the presence of agents of political parties, observers, the media, and security personnel at the Collation Centre.
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“This is now being mischievously interpreted as a directive to the Returning Officer regarding a phantom criterion that contradicts the approved guidelines. There is nothing comparable.
“In fact, the letter’s content is essentially identical to the Commission’s Press Release dated Monday, March 20, 2023, which has been uploaded to the Commission’s social media platforms and is already available to the public.
He further stated that the public should disregard the story because it’s fake news.
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