#NigeriaDecides2023: AAC withdraws from collation centre, accuses INEC of illegality

The African Action Congress (AAC) has withdrawn its agent from the national collation centre in Abuja over alleged non-transparency by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The development comes amid the calls by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for the cancellation of the general election.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had also said the INEC chairperson should declare “void and inadmissible” election results where “BVAS and servers have been manipulated or rendered inactive”.

In a statement on Tuesday by Femi Adeyeye, the national publicity secretary of the party, AAC also accused INEC of failure to upload result sheets at the (polling) unit levels, adding that the alleged action of the electoral commission was a breach of the law. 

“Section 60 (5) of the 2022 electoral act empowers INEC to prescribe guidelines for the transmission of election results. Pursuant to that subsection, INEC clearly stipulated in clause 38 of its regulations and guidelines that election results must be transmitted electronically via the BVAS after the announcement at the polling units,” the statement reads.

“Section 64 (4a&b) of the electoral act, 2022 lends further credence to the transmission to the iRev before they are announced to Nigerians. Why is the rule being bent at this time?

“Our national secretary who is also our national election collation agent has consistently raised this breach of the electoral act and INEC guidelines at the national collation centre but the INEC chairman keeps dodging addressing these concerns.

“This is why we have decided to withdraw our collation agent from the charade and illegality going on at the national collation centre since our probing questions to the commission have remained unanswered till this minute.

“We call on INEC to follow the law and its own guidelines and also call for the cancellation of results not uploaded, collated and read from the server, in accordance with the electoral act and guidelines.

“Elections should be reconducted in areas ridden with vote buying, intimidation, violence, technical issues with BVAS and other malpractices stated by parties and independent monitoring bodies.”