The former governor of Ebonyi State and senator for the Ebonyi South Zone, David Umahi, has come under fire for allegedly fabricating the BVAS report of the Independent National Electoral Commission. More than 30 civil society organisations and human rights organisations have demanded his arrest and prosecution.
Standing up from their press conference on Friday in Abuja, the CSOs bemoaned the development as a sign of danger to the country’s democracy and the rule of law and urged pertinent agencies to look into the matter and prosecute those responsible.
Recall that Hon. Linus Okorie, a two-term member of the House of Representatives who represented the Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency and ran as the Labour Party’s senatorial candidate in the national elections of February 25, had filed an election petition with the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, asking to be declared the winner due to having received the highest number of valid votes.
In addition, he contends that Umahi was not chosen in a legitimate primary of a well-known political party in Nigeria.
According to information obtained, INEC allegedly provided competing parties with Certified True Copies of election records, including BVAS reports, in the same petitions before tribunals across the nation.
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They state, “A case in point is the Ebonyi State National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, where the immediately preceding governor of Ebonyi State/Senator for Ebonyi South Senatorial District, Engr David Nweze Umahi, has been accused of presenting a forged CTC of the BVAS Accreditation Report and Compliance Certificate to the Tribunal in defence of cases challenging his election.
“In a petition submitted to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) by Linus Okorie, a rival from the Labour Party, Umahi was accused of obtaining the aforementioned BVAS Report and Certificate of Compliance from the INEC Headquarters’ ICT Department. However, the CTC Report and Compliance Certificate were rejected by the Secretary to the Commission in a letter that was submitted to the petition because they were not AUTHENTIC, or from the Commission.
“There is suspicion that a cartel may be functioning within INEC Headquarters and collaborating with desperate politicians to provide forged or phoney Commission documents, like in this case, with the goal to skew the results of ongoing electoral tribunals across the nation.
“The implications of such a criminal conspiracy are grave for the integrity of any final legal rulings and the broader growth of a credible election system in the nation. We demand a swift and thorough examination of the police’s appeal in order to identify any cartel operating inside INEC that is tampering with official papers and to ensure that those implicated in such crimes are brought to justice.
“All of these have undermined voters’ faith in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s (INEC) ability to conduct free, fair, and credible elections. The development of our democracy is significantly hampered by this.
As soon as Okorie realised that his main opponent, Engr. Umahi, was using the CTC of the BVAS report on the election to influence the tribunal, he wrote to INEC to request confirmation. In response, Umahi’s CTC was invalid, according to the electoral arbiter, who also certified that he possessed the genuine CTC.
“Your letter dated May 18, 2023, on the aforementioned subject matter references,” was the first line of the INEC letter.
The BVAS Report that is Annexure “A” of your letter has been authenticated, according to the Commission.The letter from the LP Senatorial Candidate to INEC, dated May 18, 2023, and signed by Alex Akoja, Esq., the lead attorney for his solicitors, had stated in part, “Our Client is embarrassed that two drastically different Certified True Copies (CTC) of the same document are coming from your Commission, despite being signed by two different people at two different times. First in time and designated as Annexure “A,” the one supplied to our Client.
“Our Client has asked us to write you on the basis that you use your good offices to instigate an investigation into this matter and to affirm to us which of the two Certified True Copies is legitimate,” we read in the letter.
The previous governor was not able to be reached for comment on the predicament. As of the time of reporting this report on Friday night, he has not returned calls or addressed messages left on his mobile.
