INDEPENDENT
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied allegations that its personnel compromised the concluded supplementary governorship election in Adamawa.
Barr. Festus Okoye National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee was reacting to a statement by candidate of one of the political parties accusing the the commission of undermining the integrity of the Dr process that produced Ahmadu Umaru Fintri as Adamawa state governor- elect.
The accuser had alleged that the commission’s personnel paid a discreet, nocturnal visit to the government house in Yola, ostensibly with a view to compromise the outcome of the poll, a claim INEC strongly challenged.
Insisting that no such visit took place , Okoye said doing so would have outrightly undermined the aoth of neutrality sworn by staff of the commission.
He reminded the public that it has been a standard practice for the commission to deploy National Commissioners or Resident Electoral Commissioners from nearby state to support their colleague during off cycle elections, noting that it was not strange that the commission followed the pattern during the supplementary election in Adamawa.
Okoye’s statement reads in part :
“Ordinarily, the Commission does not join issues with partisan actors, particularly where no evidence has been pro
“To set the record straight, no such visit or meeting took place let alone the compilation of any purported list of collation and returning officers. Such a meeting would have been contrary to the oath of neutrality that we all swore to. Moreover, every conscientious observer would have noticed that the Commission appointed and retained only one Returning Officer for the Governorship election who also doubled as the State Collation Officer for the Presidential Election (SCOPE)…
