The National Collation Centre in Abuja, Tuesday morning, was thrown into a theatre of the absurd and the ugly as INEC reconvened to receive more results from states as a former Minister of Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe, who is also an agent of the PDP at the centre openly accused the INEC chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega of bias.
Orubebe grabbed the microphone shortly after Jega reconvened the meeting for the second day of collation and raged at the electoral umpire in the full glare of camera and the international TV audience. Not even the intervention of security personnel in the hall would assuage the former minister who accused agenda of working for the opposition APC. He called Jega a partial umpire who is tribalistic , stressing that the PDP has no confidence in what he was doing.
He queried the logic behind the results from Katsina, Kano, Kaduna which the PDP alleged were forged to suit the APC candidate.
According Orubebe, a petition was sent to the INEC chairman by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), requesting for investigation into the results released from key northwest states of Katsina, Kano, Jigawa and Kano, but was not accepted by the chairman.
He also said that a petition sent by APC regarding the election in Rivers State was promptly acted on and a team dispatched to the state to investigate.
Orubebe created an ugly scene, insisting that collation would not go ahead as they have lost confidence in the INEC chairman.
Reacting, Jega dismissed the allegation, saying one Dr. Bello Fadile, a PDP agent contrary to the rule gave a petition to his PA from the PDP after yesterday’s session.
However, Jega said he asked his PA to return the document as all letters/petitions are to be submitted through the secretary of the Commission and not at the collation centre.
Jega also dismissed accusation that he gave results to APC that the party has released same
on its website.
“As as I sit with you now, I have not received anything (PDP petition) from the secretary.
“For you to engage me on this issue frankly, is not fair to me. Let us not disrupt a process that has ended peacefully”.
The collation however continued afterwards with Jega upholding the result from Rivers State.
Godsday Orubebe
