…We have it on record that in many places results were swapped with APC results being recorded for PDP and the zero votes of PDP recorded for APC. These results being swapped and changes made to the originals are rampant and in favour of PDP…
…For a figure 24 for example, they simply added a 2 before or a 4 after. Thus for them 24 could either be 224 or 244. It was so obvious that in some instances they forgot to change the overall total or the amount in words until at the collation center when further cancellations took place…
…they are to have ordered officials to write reports for polling units where no elections took place at all…
…Almost all totals at the collation centres are at variance with the totals obtained at the polling units. On several occasions we drew the attention of INEC but it appeared they are not interested in ensuring that the process is free, fair and credible…
…Vote buying and voter intimidation using hired Thugs are two other lapses that seriously questioned the legitimacy of the election…
…There is a particular polling unit in Madagali where a relation of one of the gubernatorial candidates openly and forcefully took away the governorship box and went home to stuff it before bringing it back…
…Part of the review we want is to also look at the serial numbers of the ballot papers. Since the ballot papers were allocated to locations in batches it is quite obvious that anyone of a different serial number may be brought there from other locations…
By Ahmad Sajoh
The gubernatorial candidate of APC in Adamawa State is throwing a challenge to INEC. Review the election held in Adamawa state in 16 Local Government Areas or in it’s entirety if you so wish. We are ready for it. Every vote cast for Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani is a legitimate vote. Review the results, conduct forensic verification, do whatever you can to authenticate the results. You can only arrive at one conclusion. The votes scored by and recorded for Senator Binani are legit. But the other side cannot make the same claims. They do not have the courage or the audacity to ask for a review even in places they lost. Let a review be conducted and the manufactured figures recorded for PDP will fall like a park of cards. They are not legitimate votes. They are mostly ghost figures allocated by dubious officials mostly after our agents have signed the correct results.
There are a number of key areas we are challenging the figures cooked up for the incumbent PDP Governor and in all we have concrete proof that the votes purportedly allocated were not legitimate. We are not afraid of such verification catching us in any way. Let it be done wholesale in those we have identified. Let the review process affect whoever is concerned, if it doesn’t favour us so be it.
Let the PDP come out openly and accept that a review be conducted in all those identified areas we have listed in this write up. Clutching onto lies about the fracas in just one Local Government such as Fufore is not enough. We are challenging the legitimacy of the votes purportedly cast and recorded in 16 of the 21 LGAs. Let them accept the challenge and ask for a review as well.
The first and most important of the reviews required is the use of BVAS machines for accreditation of voters. In most of the Local Government Areas where bogus results are posted the BVAS machines were completely ignored. Voters were simply ferried from one location to another and made to queue and vote without any reference to the BVAS machine. We challenge INEC to compare the results posted with the BVAS accreditation reports. We are willing to concede if the two tally. If accreditation by BVAS is the basis for legitimizing the March 18th elections, then the exercise is totally illegitimate in most places in Adamawa State. We make bold to say the BVAS machines only went a tourism trip to many places in the state. They were not instruments for conducting legitimate elections. They were not used in most places.
Secondly, there are multiple alterations on result sheets in many places. In most of the areas where outrageous results are posted, the result sheets bear glaring alterations often signed by someone other than our agents. Those alterations are often conducted in some backwater locations far from the polling areas. They simply connive with highly compromised officials including security personnel to change figures before taking them to collation centers. In fact they did it without any creativity or fear of God.
For a figure 24 for example, they simply added a 2 before or a 4 after. Thus for them 24 could either be 224 or 244. It was so obvious that in some instances they forgot to change the overall total or the amount in words until at the collation centre when further cancellations took place. We have many of such altered result sheets in our possession presently.
Thirdly, they are to have ordered officials to write reports for polling units where no elections took place at all. This is the most annoying of all the fraud perpetrated. In many locations with serious security challenges the people had relocated long ago due to the activities of Boko Haram, yet INEC maintains a record of polling units located there. Such places had voters and are deserted. But elections were purported to have been held there. Humongous results of people voting were recorded without any proof of even INEC staff visiting the places. These are scandalous occurrences, which need to be properly reviewed.
Another form of fraud perpetrated was result swapping. We have it on record that in many places results were swapped with APC results being recorded for PDP and the zero votes of PDP recorded for APC. These results being swapped and changes made to the originals are rampant and in favour of PDP. Sometimes all votes cast were simply recorded for PDP and something insignificant allocated to the APC that was the original winner in that polling unit.
One of the most worrisome of the fraud perpetrated is the changes made to figures at the collation centre. Almost all totals at the collation centres are at variance with the totals obtained at the polling units. On several occasions we drew the attention of INEC but it appeared they are not interested in ensuring that the process is free, fair and credible. Now we are calling for a review. For the sake of the credibility of the process and the legitimacy of the outcome, we need a review please.
Perhaps it will be necessary to point at two other lapses that had seriously questioned the legitimacy of the election. One is vote buying and the other is voter intimidation using hired thugs. The security agencies either deliberately ignored such glaring cases of vote buying or that the cases were so rampant that there was no need objecting to them. We have pictures and videos of PDP operatives sharing materials and money in the presence of security agencies and other citizens right at the polling booths.
As for voter intimidation, the original plan was to scare away women from polling units. But when they realized that even men were afraid they sent all away including our agents. Getting such free space they committed many other atrocities including ballot box stuffing and multiple thumb printing. There is a particular polling unit in Madagali where a relation of one of the gubernatorial candidates openly and forcefully took away the governorship box and went home to stuff it before bringing it back.
Part of the review we want is to also look at the serial numbers of the ballot papers. Since the ballot papers were allocated to locations in batches it is quite obvious that anyone of a different serial number may be brought there from other locations. How did they get there? Simply put we want a review and not to have all those anomalies swept under the carpet.
Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani wants to win this election legitimately. She is not asking INEC to favour her. She wants to win or lose on account of legitimate votes not through dubious manipulation of the process and the allocation of unearned votes allocated by dubious officials.
All we are asking for is that INEC should conduct a review based on the provisions of the electoral act. And whatever is discovered to have been done right we shall stand by it. However where glaring anomalies exist expunge them as required by law no matter who is affected by the existence of such anomalies. It is all we ask for, and it is within the ambit of the law. That is certainly not too much to ask.