The Independent National Electoral Commission has been accused of frustrating the efforts of the legal team to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate Asue Ighodalo to inspect electoral materials used for the September 21 elections.
The PDP said it has been unable to have access BVAS and other materials used for the conduct of the election as time is running for it to file a petition against the election.
Spokesman for the legal team of the party, Olusegun Jolaawo (SAN), disclosed this Monday in Benin while addressing journalists at the premises of the state office of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Election Petition Tribunal had on 29 September, ordered INEC to release all the electoral materials used at the election for PDP and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, for the purpose of inspection.
The Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice W.I. Kpochi, granted the order in an exparte motion with suit number EPT/ED/GOV/01M/2024 and dated September 27, 2024, was filed by Rotimi O. Ogunseso (SAN) and Seun Olusuyi, and sworn to by Osasere Adagbonyin.
But Jolaawo lamented the lack of readiness on the part of INEC to make the materials available to them in view of the time scheduled for filing their petition.
He said: “We came here today in furtherance of our attempt to get materials to flesh up our petition in further to a court order we received on September 29, 2024.
“When we get here today, we were not able to get audience with the REC, but we were able to see the head of legal who told us that they were preparing a schedule for our inspection.
“We have not been able to have access to BiVAS for inspection. We are now told that whenever a schedule is ready, we would be contacted by INEC. The risk involved is obvious to everybody, time expires on Saturday for us to file our petition, and today is Monday.”
In the Certified True Copy of the order signed by the secretary of the tribunal Mauzu Ibrahim Bagudu and made available to newsmen in Benin City, the court said INEC must produce and make available all the materials used for the election.
Earlier in their petition, the applicants had prayed the court to order INEC to produce and handover to them the comprehensive list of all the electoral materials available in its custody for inspections.
The documents listed by the applicants and granted by the Tribunal are all forms EC8A, forms EC8B, forms EC8C, forms EC8D, forms EC8E, forms EC25B, forms EC25B(i).
Others are all forms EC40A, forms EC40C, forms EC40G and EC40G(i) used at the gubernatorial election.
The court also ordered INEC to make all the polling unit Results, Forms EC8A uploaded to its IREV portal from the poling unit, list of accredited agents of all the political parties that participated in the gubernatorial election.
Other are voters register for each of the polling units, total number of BVAS machines deployed to the poling units, serial number of each BVAS machines matched against the specific polling units and statement/report of the number of accredited Voters recorded on and extracted directly from the BVAS machines used at all the polling units for the election.
The Tribunal further ordered INEC to produce and make available to the applicants record/list of polling units where election results were not uploaded to INEC IREV portal as at 22nd September 2024 when the result of the election and return of winners were announced.
It also directed that record of the posting of INEC ad hoc staff for the 4519 polling units, number of Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs collected in each polling unit should be made available to the applicants.
Asue Ighodalo...