Yakubu Busari
There have been calls for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to cancel the Wase Federal constituency election for non-use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, disenfranchisement, thuggery, declaration of results under duress,.
The Chairman of Wase Peoples Democratic Party Support Group (WPDPSG), Engr. Paul P. Vongkur has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a matter of urgency, fairness, justice, and peace to cancel the sham Wase Federal Constituency Election results of 25th of February 2023 which purportedly declared Rt Hon Idris Maje Wase as a winner due to the nonuse of BVAS, disenfranchisement of voters of over 15 polling units in Bashar District of Wase LGA, thuggery, declaration of results under duress and threat to life, collusion with thugs to cause mayhem to any non-APC supporter at the Wase Local Government Council Secretariat, the non-holding of elections in 15 polling units of Bashar District, yet the returning of results in such polling units and the use of Soldiers, Police, DSS, and the Civil Defence to intimidate voters in Bashar District and the Wase LGC Secretariat.
Those claims were made by the Wase PDP Support Group Chairman Engr Paul P. Vongkur in a press briefing in Jos with a select media Executives to express total disenchantment to the non-adherence to the 2022 Electoral Act in the conduct of the National Assembly and the Presidential Elections in Wase LGA. Vongkur described the election as an eye sore where the distribution of electoral materials was done in secret, the transmission of results was done manually instead of electronically using the BVAs, collation of results was done under an insecure environment at the LGC Secretariat which could be described as an All Progressive Congress (APC) secretariat and the announcement of the results under duress and threat to life of the Returning officer who wanted a new date for the election in 15 polling units and eventual interference of the APC Candidate, Rt Hon Wase and the LGC Chairman.
Vongkur frowned at the non-investigation of his petition to INEC that the counting should be done in the INEC office rather than the insecure LGC Secretariat populated by APC supporters.
He equally wants the INEC Returning Officer and Rt. Hon. Wase to account for the loss of over 3200 Ballot Papers in the National Assembly Election which is a trick by the APC and INEC to rig the election.
The Chairman of the Wase PDP Support Group also queried the late arrival of voting materials and INEC officials, the brutalization of electorates, particularly, PDP supporters, the prevalence of a lot of irregularities, a lot of polling units having no results, the LGC Chairman came in with a lot of thugs to disrupt places where the PDP has high following, the LGC barricaded with soldiers to intimidate PDP voters, the process was not in order and was not completed.
It is on record, Vongkur said, that the Returning officer, Prof Walshak, was forced to read imaginary and fake results at gunpoint and the risk of his life where the margin of lead is considered inappropriate and not conforming to the electoral act.
Vongkur asked what happened to the polling unit where results have not been counted, voters are denied voting and in the polling unit where results have not been counted, voters are denied voting and in the polling units where PDP agents were bullied, arrested, and locked up. Something has to be done about the voting process because it is disrespectful for a legislator who worked on the new electoral act not to allow the use of the BVAs.
He said it was wrong for one Ibrahim, a brother to Wase to be seen with excess ballot papers during the National Assembly Elections, no wonder, 3200 ballot papers were said to be stolen. It is equally wrong, Vongkur said, for the council chairman to threaten the Returning Officer of leaving him with thugs who will devour him if he didn’t announce the result the way they wanted.
Vongkur also asked INEC to immediately collect back the certificate of return issued to Wase and issue it to the rightful winner Barr Ibrahim Kanje of the PDP.
