2019 POLL: 60 presidential candidates confirm INEC didn’t use server, accuse PDP of ‘evil’ plot

Claims by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that results of 2019 general elections was not transmitted into any server, were on Tuesday supported by a number of presidential candidates who claimed to be from 60 political parties under the aegis of Joint Forum of Presidential Candidates.

According to them, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have a wicked plan to destroy the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process, by insisting that the electoral body made use of server during the last general elections.

Chairman of the forum, Shittu Muhammed, who stated this when he addressed newsmen in Abuja, claimed that INEC had prior to the elections informed political parties participating in the elections that it was not going to transmit results electronically because there was no legal instrument backing such.

Muhammed, was the presidential candidate of the Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA) during the election.

He was with the chairman of West African Coalition of Political Parties, Chief Perry Opara, who was a co-convener of the forum, at the press conference in Abuja where he made the claim.

He wondered how PDP, which he said was part of the meeting where INEC gave the alleged information that it was not going to transmit results electronically, could turn around to be making “unnecessary” claims targeted at destroying the integrity of the nation’s electoral process.

“The needless controversy over the INEC Server would have been lawful as it would have been mandatory for the Commission to deploy the server. We are aware that INEC had run pilots on electronic transmission of results. It had informed us that these pilots were deployed in Anambra, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun governorship elections.

“However, INEC informed all political parties in the election following the withholding of assent by the President that it would not deploy the electronic transmission of results since it would not be lawful to do so.

“We must inform Nigerians now that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was represented in those meetings and we do not know why they are heating up the polity with the server story.

“This INEC Server controversy is a deliberate ploy to destroy the integrity of our electoral process. Can the so-called results from the server be referred to as credible where INEC could not have legitimately transmitted results of the Presidential or any of the other elections electronically?” Muhammed said.

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PDP has since after the poll maintained it won the presidential election transmitted into INEC’s server during the recent poll.

The electoral body on the other hand, has also continued to insist it never transmitted election results electronically, during the last poll.

The Presidential Election Tribunal had on Monday turned down PDP and Atiku’s application to inspect the alleged server, but the former vice president and his party have dragged the matter to the Supreme Court.

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