Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday carpeted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the Presidency to rig the 2015 elections.
Tinubu, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos, described the decision of the commission to deregister 1.447 million voters from the voter’s register in Lagos State as fraudulent and illegal, asking the Commission to publish the names of those deregistered in the state.
The press conference held at the APC state secretariat, Ogba, had the state’s APC Chairman, Chief Oladele Ajomale, and Women Leader, Mrs. Kemi Nelson, among others present.
Said the commission; “has failed and is unacceptable.”
Tinubu said that in some instances, “INEC officials are not on ground. In some of the accredited booths in the state, INEC did not start the exercise on time. In other cases, the cards are not sorted or inadequate. Where are they?
“If INEC has failed in 11 local governments, it is only reasonable to conclude that this exercise has failed and it is a deliberate failure. For me, this exercise has failed. It is not acceptable. We will consider as wrong by all standards and as a rigging exercise practised.
“INEC has colluded with Presidency to rig these elections from the beginning to the end. If for four years, INEC is unable to prepare the permanent voter’s cards and capture those who are 18 and above, how it possible that INEC will be able to satisfy the Electoral Act 30 days to 2015 elections.
“As far as I am concerned, this is a deliberate collusion. If you call it neglect, for me, it gives INEC an excuse to what is inexcusable. We will report what has happened in Lagos to the national secretariat of our party. As we have merged with other political parties, INEC has merged with President Jonathan to form a formidable body to rig the 2015 elections,” the national leader said.
He described the arbitrary reduction of the state’s registered voters from 6.27 million in 2011 to 4.8 million as unconstitutional and unlawful, noting that the Commission lacked the power to play the role of court by taking decision to remove some voters from the register.
He said: “The commission brought the number of registered voters from 6.27 million to 4.8 million. INEC should publish the names of those delisted from the voter’s register. These people are not ghosts.
“Even if they are involved in double or multiple registration”, the national leader observed that “INEC should have a record of the registered voters that were involved in the act of multiple registration”
“INEC cannot take the right to exercise their franchise away for any reason. If INEC wants to prosecute them, it must obtain order from the court of law to do so. If INEC wants to void their cards, it must go through the court of law before it can do so. INEC cannot arbitrarily deregister them from the register.
“INEC cannot automatically disqualify them without the court of law. INEC can either suspend or give them opportunity to register again. INEC should publish the names of the 1.447 million voters that were deregistered. If INEC refuses to publish their names and give reasons, it has violated their constitutional rights.”
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