The Independent National Electoral Commission in Edo State has again denied the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, access to the Bimodal Voter Authentication System machine and other materials used during the September 21 governorship election in the state.
The legal team representing the PDP and Ighodalo, who were at the INEC office on Tuesday, was once again refused access to the electoral materials.
Reacting to the development, the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, described INEC’s actions as a deliberate ploy, accusing the commission of colluding with the All Progressives Congress to frustrate the PDP’s legal challenge against the outcome of the election.
“We are aware that this clandestine game plan is aimed at frustrating the PDP’s appeal and preventing the petition from being filed before the Saturday deadline,” Nehikhare stated.
He went on to accuse the APC of planning to burn down the INEC office in order to destroy the BVAS machines and other election materials, which he claimed contained evidence of electoral fraud.
Despite these challenges, Nehikhare assured party members that the PDP would not relent in its efforts to expose the alleged electoral malpractice and recover the mandate they believe was given to them by the people of Edo State during the September 21 governorship poll.
He called on the Nigeria Police Force to secure the INEC office, prevent any potential attack, and ensure that the court order allowing the inspection of election materials is enforced.
It will be recalled that on Monday, the PDP’s legal team, led by Olusegun Jolaawo (SAN), visited the INEC headquarters in Benin City to inspect BVAS machines, voter registers, ballot papers, and other election materials.
However, despite presenting a court order to INEC officials, they were denied access.
The court order, dated September 29, 2024, and signed by the Secretary of the Tribunal, Mu’azu Bagudu, and the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice W. I. Kpochi, had directed INEC to provide the PDP and Ighodalo with a comprehensive list of electoral materials and allow them to take Certified True Copies of the documents.
Although INEC officials met with the legal team after several hours of waiting on Monday, they were told to return on Tuesday to receive authorisation from the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.