FORMER Information and National Orientation Minister Labaran Maku has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating the Nasarawa State governorship election result in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, incumbent governor Abdullahi Sule.
Speaking on Channels TV on Tuesday, March 28, Maku said that there are disparities in the figures of accredited voters, votes cast and the number declared by INEC.
Maku alleged that figures in some polling units and wards were altered and inflated to favour the incumbent governor.
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“If you go to IREV, you will notice in the accreditation for Ciroma and Gwagana wards there are different figures for the house of assembly and governorship but it is the same BVAS that were used.
“How can you suddenly have two elections announced and the one for the house of assembly have different figures of accreditation while the governorship is different as well?
“But it is supposed to be the same accreditation process, the same number of people that voted in governorship election are those who voted in the house of assembly election.”
He also accused INEC of connivance to announce the wrong election results.
“If you go to the backend of the IREV the figure you will see are different from what was announced.
“This is simply bizarre and criminal. Do your worst – that is what they are telling us. ‘We have the figures and we would announce what we want’.”
The former minister however stressed that the candidate of the APC candidate suffered a huge defeat in local governments which could determine the election.
“Also PDP defeated Sule in his local government, we defeated him in Akwanga local government, we defeated him in his ward, we defeated him in Akwanga zone which is his zone.
“We defeated him in Doma local government, Obi local government, in Karu local government then where did they cook those figures that were announced?
“Those people just used three or four polling units and added to their figures. Those figures are simply fiction, they don’t agree with the total accreditation in Lafia local government, Ciroma and Gayari. It has nothing to do with the vote cast by the people if you want to know go to the IREV you will see the gap between what they declared and what took place in the election proper.”
The ICIR earlier reported that police in Nasarawa had banned all forms of protest across the 13 Local Government Areas of the state.
The announcement was made by the Police Command’s spokesman of the state Ramhan Nansel, on Sunday, March 26 after residents of Nasarawa protested against the outcome of the governorship and state assembly elections in the state.
The protesters who were women in the Akwanga area of the state were reported to have stripped off their clothes in public while protesting the outcome of the poll.
The women called for the nullification of the governorship election results declared by INEC.
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