Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has lambasted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), accusing it of being deceitful.
Obi made the condemnation shortly after the Commission released on Friday the report of the 2023 general elections held in Nigeria.
The commission’s 526-page report of the 2023 elections, among other issues, blamed technical glitches, which prevented it from uploading the results of the presidential election.
Speaking on behalf of Obi, the Chief Spokesperson, of the Obi-Datti Campaign Committee, Dr Yunusa Tanko, said the report was only medicine after death.
“I think the INEC report is medicine after death. The truth about it is that if I didn’t mean that INEC actually deal with this issue as it happened during the election, possibly Nigerians would have believed and trusted this particular report.”
“But here we are, the report of the INEC which signifies that the IREV refused to function or been uploaded during the election is false. Considering the fact that there were three elections that happened on that day, the Federal House of Representatives, the Senate, and the result was uploaded and there was no issue.
“Why must there be issue as regard to the presidential election? So totally for us is deceit, disdain for the people and is trying to promote an indecency,” he said.
It was unfortunate everyone knew when INEC gave a written document, citing that they would not agree with any result that is not posted on the IREV, Obi said.
“It is documented and everybody saw it. But then this is the same INEC who went again to the Supreme Court citing that they had an authority to collate the result manually and it was stamped on authority on illegality by our judiciary.
“And you want to convince me that that particular issue of glitch was not done deliberately? The truth is that nobody was arrested. Somebody ought to have been arrested who has been saddled with that responsibility.
“And if he is saddled with the responsibility, he must be held responsible and account for why the glitches occur.
“And even if there was a glitch, it’s just like your network taking off. It shouldn’t take off to a whole day. A few seconds it is off, three seconds it is back. Why was the server not back or why is the glitch not resolved?
“So for me and many of us, this is totally unacceptable. The report is deceitful to the Nigerian people. Our electoral Act and electoral law must be revisited to give clarity as regard to the process of our election.
“We don’t want to give any lacuna to any of our election process and give room for the judiciary only to decide who wins election. Election should be done and dusted at the polling units,” he said.