It is no longer news that INEC postponed the governorship and state house of assembly elections to March 18 for purposes of reconfiguration. The Labour Party has come up to say that the electoral body is bringing up the matter of reconfiguring the BVAS after its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, requested to see the election materials.
Next, INEC has refused to back up the data retrieved from the BVAS in the presence of witnesses. Moreover, LP wants the commission to back up the data in the presence of representatives of political parties.
The Labour Party had earlier filed an application requesting that the BVAS be examined before reconfiguration. Further, the Court of Appeal in Abuja granted INEC permission to reconfigure the BVAS. The reason being that, if reconfiguration did not take place, it would affect the governorship elections.
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Equally important, the Chief Spokesman for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, said that it was wrong of INEC to back up the data from the BVAS without any witness. He accused the electoral body of trying to cover up its faults. Furthermore, Tanko mentioned that for the purpose of transparency, INEC needs to invite representatives and technological experts to observe what they want to back up.
Finally, Tanko stated that the Labour Party has lost confidence in the capacity of the electoral body to conduct a free, fair, and credible election. He also said that Peter Obi is consulting with his lawyers about whether to appeal the court’s decision.