The opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) in Bauchi state, Tuesday demanded for the immediate redeployment of the Resident Electoral Commissioner and the Administrative Secretary of the Commission in the state for transparency and safeguard the sanctity of the electoral process.
At a press conference in Bauchi, the legal adviser of APC in Bauchi, Barrister Rabiu Garba said already the party has lost confidence in the management team of INEC in the state.
Rabiu said APC also demanded immediate disengagement of all the presiding officers and replace them with the trained youth corps members in line with the terms contained in the MOU signed between INEC and NYSC.
He demanded that INEC must ensure that all of its ad-hoc staff are sufficiently trained before the next election of March, 11, 2023 to avoid deliberate irregularities capable of undermining the sanctity of the process.
“We as a political party categorically disapprove of the entire management team of INEC in Bauchi State for failing to insist that the right thing is done at the right time and for failing to resist the PDP Government in Bauchi State. As we all know, there can never be any compromise without the compromise of INEC management in Bauchi State.
“We must condemn in totality, the cunning move made by the PDP Government in Bauchi State to compromise the security and INEC ad-hoc electoral officers in most of the Polling Units across the State. For instance, under the INEC guidelines for the 2023 General Elections, ad-hoc Staff are required to be effectively trained on how to operate the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device and to as well, preside over elections at polling units. We have witnessed in some Local Governments Areas of Bauchi State where the INEC trained ad-hoc staff were replaced with certain card- carrying members of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) who apparently manipulated the election process in favour of their party.
“Thus, they have, in some Polling Units, illegally cancelled the Elections in APC controlled Polling Units, caused deliberate malfunctioning of the BVAS machines, mutilated sensitive election materials, etc. We strongly condemn the PDP interference in that regard and shall take up the matter appropriately.”
The APC legal adviser however commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting the just concluded presidential and national assembly elections in tandem with the approved Guidelines and Timetable for the general elections against all odds and apparent challenges.
