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Situation Room raises concern over 1,084,358 cancelled votes in 18 States

Published

5 years ago

February 26, 2019

LIVE UPDATE! 2019 Presidential election results for leading parties: PDP, APC

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR) has raised concerns over the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel 1,084,358 votes across 1175 polling units in 18 States.

While demanding further explanation on why the votes were cancelled, the organisation said INEC needs to provide clarification on its decision before the close of tabulation.

NCSSR Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Clement Nwankwo, raised the observation in Abuja on Thursday night.

He said INEC should provide more convincing reasons for the cancellation beyond over voting, card reader malfunction and violence.

Nwankwo said, “As at 6:47pm on Tuesday, February 26, the discrepancy was a total of 513,214, in 27 States including Nasarawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Edo States and the FCT. Situation Room calls on INEC to transparently address this confusion before the completion of result tabulation.

Read also: PDP asks INEC to stop collation of presidential election results

“There is a lack of clarity in the rationale for cancellation of polls. We have recorded 1,084,358 cancelled votes across 1,175 polling units in 18 States. The pattern of this cancellation requires some close interrogation to show fairness and objectivity. The reasons provided for the cancelled votes include over voting, card reader malfunction and violence.

“Situation Room demands that INEC provide clarification on rationale and compliance with its guidelines regarding the cancellation of polls. Accusations that these cancellations may have been contrived to suppress votes need to be taken seriously and addressed before the close of tabulation.

“Situation Room calls on INEC to address the discrepancies in the vote tally and provide cogent explanations for the rejected votes and clearly clarify what amounts to cancelled votes.”

Among other issues raised by the organisation was the case of an official of INEC who alleged he was forced to announc inaccurate results in Imo State

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