Pulse.ng : Presidential Elections: Labour Party faults process, to challenge result

Agency Report

By Sani Idris

As INEC prepares to collate and announce results of Saturday's Presidential and National Assembly eections, one of the four leading and contending parties, the Labour Party (LP) is faulting the process and collation of results, asserting that it would challenge the outcome in court.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the National Secretary of the LP, Alhaji Umar Ibrahim, alleged that while the party made inroads with high votes in most parts of Northern Nigeria, her members were deliberatelly prevented from voting.

He also alleged that they were chased away violently from polling units.

Ibrahim added that, allegedly, most of their members were deliberately disenfrachised through varied means across the country, noting that they were more discerning in their strongholds.

He cited Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kano, Yobe and Edo states among places where such alleged acts were rampantly perpetrated in violation of the electoral act 2022 as amended.

Ibrahim further alleged that in some places, INEC staff and electoral materials were not deployed to areas that were known to be strongholds of LP, or deployed late to frustrate the party supporters who, psychologically got tired of waiting and left polling units for the fear of the unknown.

"The delay by INEC to upload and announce results, especially where Laboure Party, is already known to have taken lead, is also worrysome and we feel it is deliberate to anger our party and our supporters" he stressed.

He also revealed that intelligence from the fields revealed that across the Northern states, electorates identified as Labour Party supporters were tactically denied access to their polling units by some INEC adhoc staff who conived with others to confuse the electorates by insisting their polling units are different and sending them to the wrongs ones.

He said this fustrated the electorates, and reduced the votes polled by Labour Party, which would have more than doubled if the right things were done.

While calling on INEC to checkmate and call its polling staff to order and also ensure punitive measures in line with the electoral act 2022 as amended, the Labour Party National Secretary assured that the party would definitely challenge the outcome and final result in court.

Ibrahim however called on the party members and supporters to be calm, remain law abiding, but be encouraged with their efforts so far, and mobilise even more for the next round of elections, as the party takes steps to right the wrong metted out to her in the saturday presidential and National Assembly Elections.(NAN)