Officials of Nigeria’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Tuesday moved to frustrate the further announcement of presidential results.
The electoral agency, INEC, in Abuja had Monday released the results of 19 states which showed the candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, leading by over 2 million votes. Results that have also been announced by state INEC officials in other states, yet to be announced in Abuja, also show the opposition candidate set to emerge as the elected president.
However, as the announcement of results was to continue at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on Tuesday, PDP officials stampeded the process accusing Mr. Jega of bias. For several minutes, they prevented the further announcement of results alleging among others, that Attahiru Jega, the INEC boss, refused to collect a petition they sent about the elections; and that he also gave unverified results to the APC.
“Jega is not supposed to be bias. Jega is not suppose to be tribal,” former minister Godsday Orubebe who was among the protesters shouted.
He said the Mr. Jega commissioned a fact finding team on reports of malpractices from Rivers State but has not acted on the Peoples Democratic Party complaints on results from Kano, Katsina, Kaduna and Gombe, which were won by the opposition.
He was unyielding as Mr. Jega and other INEC officials appealed to him to allow the collation to go on.
He said the collation would not continue except Mr. Jega leaves the venue for his office to “address PDP complaints.”