INEC denied our members access to audit BVAS but granted LP, says Abia PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of being partial in the electoral process in the state.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Abraham Amah, PDP’s acting publicity secretary, said INEC was taking decisions that favour the Labour Party (LP).

On Monday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) suspended the collation of results in Abia after thugs invaded its office in Obingwa LGA.

The thugs held the INEC officials hostage before they were released, which prompted the electoral commission to call for a review of the process.

Amah said INEC granted access to LP to audit the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) but denied the request of the PDP.

“Abia PDP is constrained to state in very unequivocal terms that the impartiality of INEC in the ongoing collation of the 2023 Abia governorship election results is very questionable because of recent decisions it has taken to favour a particular party,” the statement reads.

“In the process of the collation, the Labour Party (LP) prayed INEC to audit the BVAS accreditation of Obingwa LGA which INEC graciously granted and has already started the audit. The PDP agents have been shut out of the process, while the LP agents are involved.

“But to the chagrin of PDP, its request for INEC to subject the results of Aba north, Aba south, Umuahia north, Umuahia south, Osisioma and Arochukwu has been blatantly rejected. This is a clear case of partiality on the part of INEC in favour of the LP.

“We also warn INEC to be mindful of the legal implications of tampering with the BVAS machines without a judicial clearance as this is clearly against the electoral act.“

Reacting to the claim, Bamidele Oyetunji, INEC’s public officer in the state, denied the PDP’s allegation, saying the electoral umpire is not biased.

“INEC in Abia has been conducting the collation transparently in the presence of the media,” Oyetunji said.

“The commission is not in any way biased either against or in favour of any candidate.”