INEC replaces servers to conceal alleged rigging — PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of replacing all the servers in its headquarters and its state offices to conceal alleged rigging in the just concluded general elections.

The party made the allegation in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja, saying the action was in a desperate bid to change the actual results of the presidential election transmitted from the polling centers across the nation.

The PDP claims its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, won the February presidential election, saying INEC’s computer server has the authentic results of the poll.
But the electoral body says results were not transmitted electronically. Some ad hoc staff of the commission have however said in court affidavits that that was not the case.

Mr Ologbondiyan said the alleged replacement of the servers was “completely reprehensible” and had further exposed the culpability of INEC in the alleged manipulation and rigging of the election.

He said that the PDP was briefed on how the INEC leadership and officials of the Presidency became jittery and resorted to the desperate measure, after they realised that the servers had information of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s victory at the election.

“Our party also has details of how the INEC leadership and the presidency agents procured and detailed computer experts to the commission’s offices to switch the servers, mutilate vital information in the system and attempt to erase all trails of transmitted results to the main server,” he said.

“Moreover, our party has been informed about how the INEC leadership, several weeks after the election, used some compromised officials of the commission to manipulate voter registers in some states by ticking names of individuals who did not participate in the Presidential election, as having voted.

“This is with the view to using such to cover the fictitious results it wrote for the All Progressives Congress (APC).’’

Mr Ologbondiyan said that forensic investigation of the system would reveal the real votes transmitted from the polling centers.

“The PDP therefore insists on forensic examination of all relevant documents and equipment used for the Presidential election.’’

However, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, who reacted to the allegation described it as baseless and uncalled-for.

“The commission has maintained that it will not join issues with the PDP in the media on a petition that the party had already filed in court, in respect of the 2019 Presidential Election.

“Rather than issuing press statements and addressing press conferences on the same petition on a daily basis, PDP should allow the legal process to run its full course,” Mr Oyekanmi said. (NAN)