The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for initiating processes to appeal the judgment of the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The party, in a statement by its Caretaker Chairman, Dr. Adekunle Akindele on Wednesday, said the electoral umpire has lived up to the expectations of Nigerians in standing up to the defence of the country’s electoral system, expressing faith in higher courts to establish the supremacy of BVAS machines above any other source on accreditation of voters.
Akindele noted that the decision of INEC has put paid to the lies being sponsored by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last few days.
“We really do not want to respond to the cheap lies of the APC, as it is now obvious to the good people of Osun State, especially the voting public, that the mandate thieves are afraid of their shadows.
“It is so bad that the lies that INEC will not appeal the scandalous judgment that tried to discredit BVAS machines in our elections emanated from APC lawyers, making it clear that they know the evil they perpetrated at the Tribunal cannot stand.
“While the falsehood lasted, we chose not to respond because we are convinced that INEC knows better and being aware of the implication of ignoring the attack on the BVAS machines as the decision of Justice T. A. Kume did at the Tribunal, INEC has towed the right path by appealing the “Buga judgment” because if such is sustained, what will happen will be candidates who lost elections manipulating server reports and presenting same to a judge to steal election from the actual winner,” Akindele said.
Maintaining that the BVAS machine itself is the best evidence to prove accreditation figure in an electoral dispute, as clearly provided for in the extant Electoral Law, as against a controversial server which is only a storage unit requiring synchronisation and time to time updating, the PDP said the judgment delivered by Justice Kume was an assault on the right of the people to choose their own leaders through a free and fair electoral process.
“To understand the extent of the injustice to Osun people, the table of scores prepared by the petitioners’ counsel was what the Tribunal chairman lifted into the co-authored judgment even when its content was not the same with the pleading and evidence of the petitioners,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Acting Chairman of APC in the state, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, has carpeted the PDP for engaging in false hope of overturning the judgement of the tribunal.
In a statement issued by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi in Osogbo, Lawal said: “There’s nothing spectacular in the INEC engaging in the process of appealing any judgement as it’s still within its fundamental right of seeking justice.
“Rolling out of the drums over the national umpire’s willingness to appeal any case against it is an overkill and a superfluity which does not, in any way, confer remediation on Adeleke’s status and his governorship hopelessness.”
Western Post
No comments:
Post a Comment