Delta APC, Omo-Agege petition INEC over collation of results

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State and its gubernatorial candidate, Ovie Omo-Agege, have petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the collation of results in the just concluded gubernatorial election in the state.

The Director, Election and strategy, Mr. Godwin Anaughe, signed the petition made available to newsmen, yesterday. In the petition, the party is protesting the collation of results from the election in breach of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The APC said the collation of the election results was done without regard to the provisions of the Electoral Act across the state

“Following the conduct and announcement of results, the Electoral Act makes provision for the collation of the announced results in order to determine the winner of the election,” the party contended.

According to the APC, Section 64(4) of the Electoral Act provides: “A collation Officer or returning officer at an election shall collate and announce the result of an election, subject to his or her verification and confirmation that the:
(a) number of accredited voters stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted directly from polling units under section 47(2) of this Act; and (b) the votes stated on the collateresult are correct and consistent with the votes or results recorded and transmitted directly from polling units under section 60(4) of this Act.”

It noted that: “The APC, in the course of this state collation exercise, has raised questions as to the correctness of the votes stated in the collated results being produced from many of the Local Councils before the returning officer, as it is contemplated under section 64(6) of the Electoral Act, 2022, which provides:

“Where during the collation of results, there is a dispute regarding a collated result or the result of an election from any polling unit, the collation officer or Returning Officer shall use the following to determine the correctness of the disputed result- (a) the original of the disputed co
llated results for each of the polling units where the election is disputed; (b) the smart card reader (in this case-the BVAS) used for accreditation of the voters in each of polling units where the election is disputed; (c) data of accreditation recorded and transmitted directly from each polling unit where the election is disputed as prescribed under section 47(2) of this Act; and (d) the votes and results of the election recorded and transmitted directly from each polling unit where the election is disputed under section 60(4) of this Act.”

The APC stressed that, “For the avoidance of doubt, without prejudice to the correctness of any collated result, as may arise from any inquest, the APC has disputed and is still disputing before this collation body, the correctness of the collated results from all polling units,” in the local councils in the state.