Inconclusive Elections: PDP Alleges Plateau State REC of Compromise

By Jide Afolabi, Jos

The People’s Democratic Party, Plateau state chapter have alleged that the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, Plateau State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Husseini Halilu Pai compromised for failing to announce most national assembly elections results in the state.

In a press briefing held at the party’s secretariat in Jos today, Wednesday, its state Chairman, Hon Damishi T. Sango who commended voters for their commitment and resilience in seeking to chart a new course for a united, secure and prosperous Plateau however expressed the party’s sadness that four days after the elections, INEC is yet to turn in the final results and declare the winners.

Sango said that the situation cuts across the three senatorial zones of the state.

The statement reads in part:
“In the Southern Zone, INEC declared the election inconclusive after canceling the results of some units in Qua’an Pan and Wase LGAs.

“There was clear pressure on the Returning Officer to declare the result in favour of APC

“In the Central Zone, INEC again declared the election inconclusive. As a matter of fact, INEC and stakeholders alongside agents of the parties entered into a formal agreement for a re-run to be conducted in some units in Kanam.

“But very surprisingly, INEC summoned the Returning Officers under heavy military intimidation and ordered them to announce the result of the election in favour of APC.

“In the Northern Zone, we received reports from INEC officers on ground and our agents that PDP had roundly won the election.

“INEC then picked Tudun Wada-Kabong ward, a stronghold of the PDP in Jos North LGA and has withheld the results of all the 65 units with a total voter population of about 92 thousand people!

“The commission, therefore, instructed the Returning Officers not to announce the results.

Sango alleged that, “the wholesome cancellation of units across the state was deliberately targeted at disenfranchising the people and weakening PDP bases.”

He said that the compromise of the umpire in the elections has set the whole of Plateau on tension which is a recipe for monumental crisis.

He, however, noted that PDP and its stakeholders have been working tirelessly to calm frayed nerves.

He said, “We are therefore alerting the nation and the world to hold the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Husseini Halilu Pai responsible for any breakdown of law and order.

The PDP alleged that Governor Simon Lalong was behind the problem because of his second term ambition.

He said, “The governor has been blackmailed by some elements in the state who want him to give them certain elective positions in exchange for their support for his re-election.”

The party appealed to INEC to douse ‘the rising tension’ by immediately releasing the results.