INEC will not cancel Rivers election, Jega insists

Attahiru Jega, chairman of the independent national electoral commission (INEC), says the commission will not cancel the result of the governorship election in Rivers state, despite numerous allegations of voter intimidation, ballot-box snatching and phantom voting. 

However, he admitted that the commission made a mistake in cancelling the results of three local government areas in the April 11 governorship election in Abia state.

The professor of political science, who made this known while addressing Nigerian civil society situation room in Abuja on Tuesday, promised that his team would make amends within the ambit of the law, on the Abia cancellations.

“When there are issues but announcement of result has been made, there is nothing we can do. If a mistake was made and we could correct it within the legal framework, then we intervene and make corrections,” he said.

“It was a mistake to cancel elections in the three LGAs in Abia. We said particular affected wards to be cancelled – not the three LGAs.”

Jega went on to say that the request for cancellation of results of election in Rivers state was beyond the commission, emphasising that investigations showed that election did take place in the state.

“Rivers is another issue. We have no right to cancel the election of a whole state. There is nothing in the legal framework that allows the INEC chairman to cancel on any flimsy reasons.

“In Rivers, there were allegations of substitution of results. We investigated but there was no evidence to warrant a cancellation. There were also allegations that no election took place, which we investigated and saw was not true.”

Jega expressed sadness over the inability of the commission to print 20,000 permanent voter cards (PVCs) before the general elections. He also lamented child voting in some part of the country, regarding the ill as community connivance which would be hard to prove.

He advised those aggrieved in Rivers and other affected states to go on to the election tribunal, assuring that elected legislators would be prosecuted if confirmed as offenders.

“Aggrieved parties in Rivers state can head to the election tribunal to address any outstanding electoral issues,” he said.

“Anyone who is accused of an electoral offence and is now an elected legislator would be prosecuted if confirmed.”