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File photo of a voting process in Nigeria
By Akpan David, Calabar
The Peoples Democratic Party in Cross River State have filed all matters to challenge the outcome of the Ogoja-Yala federal constituency by-election of 26 February 2022 which APC candidate, Jude Ngaji, won.
Confirming this in Calabar, chairman of the party, Venatius Ikem said they have appropriately informed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and also submitted required documents and evidences which indicated that the byelection was marred with unprecedented violence, ballot box snatching and intimidation of voters and other irregularities.
“We have filed our papers to the INEC alongside massive evidences that confirmed much irregularities, including shooting, tremendous violence. We are ready for the Election Petitions Tribunal.”
Ikem also disclosed that the APC allegedly stole five Biomodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines at the point of moving the sensitive electoral materials from Central Bank of Nigeria premises in Calabar to Ogoja.
“Those machines miraculously surfaced at Ogoja but surprisingly, INEC merely scolded the culprits and let them go.
“Going by such act and other visible and massive irregularities, we had expected INEC to immediately cancel the byelection due to the glaring violence, shootings, ballot snatching perpetrated by appointees of the state government. But they didn’t!”
He also lamented that the police stopped him when he went to distribute INEC agent tags at their poling units which INEC themselves forgot to do beforehand even when INEC gave him a movement card. “But they never stopped APC officials who equally moved about.”
