The controversy trailing the outcome of the presidential election appears to be far from being over as more dimensions keep surfacing.
Recall that the election was won by
President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC
after beating Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples
Democratic Party,PDP.
The
PDP yesterday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) of replacing servers in its headquarters and state offices across
the federation,The Guardian reports.
The
party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola
Ologbondiyan claimed that the replacement “is a desperate bid to
obliterate the actual presidential election results transmitted from the
polling centres across the nation.”
The
PDP said the “reprehensible act had further exposed the culpability of
INEC in the alleged manipulation and rigging of the 2019 presidential
election.”
The
spokesman claimed: “The PDP has been well briefed on how the INEC
leadership and officials of the Buhari presidency became jittery and
resorted to the desperate measure after they realised that the servers
have information of Atiku Abubakar’s victory at the polls.
“Our
party also has details of how the INEC leadership and the presidency
agents procured and detailed computer experts to the commission’s
offices to switch the servers, mutilate vital information in the system
and attempt to erase all trails of transmitted results to the main
server.
“What
INEC and the Buhari presidency do not understand is that computer
software and applications leave traces, signatures as well as footmarks. Forensic
investigation of the system will reveal the real votes transmitted from
the polling centres which show Atiku Abubakar as the winner of the
election.”
The party said it would insist on forensic examination of all relevant documents and equipment used for the exercise. “Our
party will continue to be at alert as we stand with Nigerians to
reclaim our stolen mandate at the tribunal and no amount of
manipulations by INEC will distract from this national resolve,”
Ologbondiyan added.
However, the electoral umpire reacted to the claim made by the PDP. INEC described the allegation as baseless and untrue.
Chief
Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, in a terse
statement said the commission would not trade words with the party on
the matter since it was already before the court. The response reads: “The allegation is baseless and uncalled for. The
commission has maintained that it will not join issues with the PDP in
the media on a petition that the party had already filed in court, in
respect of the 2019 presidential election.
“Rather
than issuing press statements and addressing press conferences on the
same petition on a daily basis, the PDP should allow the legal process
to run its full course.”
The PDP had filed a suit challenging the victory of President Buhari and APC in the election. Since
then, there have been controversies, claims and counter-claims over the
election even as the court is yet to give its verdict on the matter.
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