An uproar unfolded at the Imo State governorship election collation center, triggered by representatives of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party.
The disruption commenced when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) initiated the collation of results for Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election in the state at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, adhering to its earlier commitment.
Once ground rules were established, a Labour Party agent expressed the party’s intention to present a petition before the results’ collation.
However, the state returning officer, Abayomi Fashina, rejected the request, stating that he couldn’t allow the petition to be read at the moment, emphasizing that he is neither an INEC official nor a lawyer or judge.
“I’m not going to listen to you,” he asserted. Nevertheless, the Labour Party agent insisted on reading the petition.
In the midst of their argument, the PDP agent also declared that the party had a petition to submit before the commencement of result collation.
“There’s nothing that said I should collect any petition from anybody. The mandate in the rules and regulations does not cover that I should collect petitions from anybody. My letter says I should collate the result. The guidelines and rules, it does not give room for the petition. I am not the tribunal,” the REC replied.
Despite the objections, both party agents persisted in their attempts to read out their petitions, while the returning officer continued with his duties, disregarding their appeals.
Ada Peter
