PDP becomes first to break Peace Accord, as opposition rejects 2019 polls result under collation
*Why they took rejection to the press – Emman Shehu
In the meantime, a big time patriot and poet, Dr. Emman Usman Shehu reacting to the PDP’s rejection of polls results in Abuja Monday wrapped the opposition saying: “Last throw of the dice. When they couldn’t find a compliant judge in Abuja today, they now went to the Press with the rejection cry.”
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected results of the Presidential Elections from Nasarawa State, saying the ruling All Progressives Congress is manipulating the results of the Presidential election.
This is as the umbrella party, who was sent out of power four years ago after 16 of what Nigerians said was full of corruption laden administration, has been accused of keeping silence over diversion of hijacking, diversion of sensitive election materials and violent disruption of democratic process during the Saturday presidential election in Rivers State.
Respondents who spoke to us said the opposition party have severally breached the peace accord signed twice by its candidate and candidate of the ruling party, which secured assurances of both sides of going to accept whatever the outcome of the election would be, even as many Nigerians sympathetic to the party in power had expressed concerns that the National Peace Committee which brought the accord signing together was not trustworthy as its Secretary, Bishop Matthew Kukah, is a member of governing council of the PDP’s presidential candidate’s American University of Nigeria (AUN).
During a press briefing in Abuja, the party’s National Chairman, Uche Secondus, insisted that the results were manipulated between ward collation centres and the collation centre in Abuja.
“Firstly, I want to categorically state that our collation centers have all original results from every polling unit, in every ward, in every Local Government Area (LGA) in Nigeria, of which the international community is well aware, implying all results currently being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is incorrect thus unacceptable to our party and people,” he said.
According to the Presidential Election Returning Officer for Nasarawa State, Azubuike Nwankwo, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 289, 903 votes to defeat the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, who garnered 283,847 votes.
But the PDP has accused both the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressive Congress (APC), of working with INEC officers, to allegedly manipulate the “figures for results already announced at polling units nationwide, in Local Government Areas (LGAs) where our party, the PDP, had commanding votes; this must now be resisted by every well-meaning Nigerian.”
He alleged that “With the INEC IT server hacked by agents of the APC to manipulate results, we can with certainty state that results from the following polling units have, for example, been tampered with, note: Sarkin Dawaki ward in Doma LGA, Nassarawa state; Doka ward in Doma LGA – Nassarawa state; Agyaragin – Tofa ward.” The PDP chairman added that 10,000 illegal votes were “added to already announced results in Wurno LGA in Sokoto state”.
The PDP further accused the APC of using the instruments of state power, including the military, police, and DSS to muzzle the opposition and influence the outcome of the election. According to the PDP, this is against the spirit of the “Peace Accord, which called for impartiality and non-partisanship by members of our security organization with constitutional roles to play during this civic exercise.”
Why they took rejection to the press – Emman Shehu
In the meantime, a big time patriot and poet, Dr. Emman Usman Shehu reacting to the PDP’s rejection of polls results in Abuja Monday wrapped the opposition saying: “Last throw of the dice. When they couldn’t find a compliant judge in Abuja today, they now went to the Press with the rejection cry.”
