MINNA- The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Niger has urged the Police command in the state to investigate alleged discovery of a Situation Room containing electoral materials and INEC ad-hoc state.
The state PDP Chairman, Mr Tanko Berji, made the call during a news conference at the party’s saecretariat in Minna on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the police had on Sunday raided a situation room in Bosso Estate in Minna where election materials such as voters register, Permanent Voter Cards, BVAS, computers and INEC ad-hoc staff were discovered.
Berji called on the command to hasten investigation into the discovery of the situation room and make public items discovered as well as question the owners on what electoral materials and INEC ad-hoc staff were doing in the building.
He also called on INEC to cancel the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections due to the discovery of the building containing election materials.
Berji also urged the police to seal the building until investigations were concluded.
He alleged that INEC ad-hoc staff did not use the BVAS for accreditation in a lot of polling units and a lot of polling units did not have single security personnel present in the Feb. 25 polls.
The chairman further alleged of plans by a political party to use INEC ad-hoc staff and security agencies to rig the March 11 Governorship and House of Assembly elections.
Berji therefore called on INEC and security agencies to ensure free and fair elections by discharging their duties effectively.
He urged INEC to address the issue of exchange of BVAS, adding that many voters were disenfranchised during the Feb. 25 elections because BVAS meant for their polling units were exchanged as deliberate act to delay election.
Also, the PDP Niger East Senatorial Candidate, Mr Ibrahim Isiaku, also alleged that accreditation and election did not take place in some polling units challenged by insecurity in Shiroro Local Government Area, but results were turned in from such polling units.
Isiaku also alleged that election in Shiroro LGA was marred with vote buying with expired COVID-19 palliative that were not shared but kept for the purpose of election and expressed worry that such items, when consumed, might have harmful effects on the people.
He called on INEC to cancel the purported election results that were turned in where election did not take place in areas taken over by bandits and promised to take legal action against the electoral body should they fail to cancel the election.
Reacting, the Police Public Relations Officer in Niger, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said the command received information that some persons were found in a building in Bosso Estate allegedly thumb printing ballot papers ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election in the state.
He said immediately the police patrol team led by the DPO of Bosso Division mobilised to the area and the informant led the police to the building, but discovered that the information was false.
Abiodun also explained that the AIG in-charge of election in Niger, Mr Isaac Akinmoyede, and the police commissioner, Mr Joshua Ogundele, with heads of other security agencies went round polling units during the election in the metropolis and made necessary corrections where some lapses were observed.
He said the police commissioner had initially directed DPOs to work with their electoral officers in local government areas to ensure that all polling units were adequately covered. (NAN)
