Malami to scuttle Rivers guber results collation, PDP claims

Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN)

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami is plotting to scuttle the collation of results of the Rivers State governorship election.The party, in a statement by National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan yesterday, cautioned Malami to refrain from being used to commit unconstitutional acts during the exercise scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

It further alleged that Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has been boasting that the AGF will act a script aimed at directing the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to stop the collation.“Our party urges the AGF to note that there is no provision of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended) or any part of the Electoral Act 2010 (as Amended) that in anyway empowers the AGF to interfere or stop the process of election until declaration of result is made.

“The constitution and laws of our nation are clear on the powers and statutory functions of the attorney general; he has no powers to interfere in the conduct of elections or direct the stoppage of an electoral process,” the PDP said.It asked Malami to “distance himself from the ignoble scheme by Rotimi Amaechi to cause trouble in Rivers State by attempting to scuttle the collation of results in the Rivers governorship election, which has been clearly won by the PDP and Governor Nyesom Wike.”

It also urged INEC to save the nation a serious crisis by asserting its independence in concluding the collation and respecting the will of the people, as expressed during the March 9, 2019 polls.The office of the AGF however denied the allegation, asking the PDP to “look elsewhere to hang its blames.”Special Adviser Media and Publicity to the Minister of Justice Salihu Othman said: “I saw the publication myself earlier and have been making effort to reach the minister over it unsuccessfully. However, I am not aware he is interfering with the collation of results in River State.

“At least, not to my knowledge. Having said that, I believe it is uncouth to say that my principal is doing the bidding of the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.”Also, asked to react, National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Lanre Issa-Onilu said: “I don’t speak for Malami or Amaechi but for the party. They should be the ones to respond to the allegations.”

But National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC) Chief Ralph Nwosu sustained the accusation, warning that the APC was gradually dragging Nigeria’s democracy to a precipice.“We have never heard of a situation where two serving ministers are allegedly working with the electoral umpire to gag the people of a state, as Malami and Amaechi are doing in the Rivers gubernatorial election case currently.

“To me, whatever the two ministers are doing is not new because we have seen how Rivers State governorship election was militarised on the instruction or influence of the ministers, even before the exercise,” he said.He also accused the APC-led government of pressuring INEC to compromise. According to him, “Although, some staff of the commission were bent on doing the right thing, their impact did not count, going by the magnitude of malpractices recorded in the 2019 elections.”

Furthermore, an APC faction that aligned with the African Action Congress (AAC) expressed doubt on INEC’s ability to carry out a credible collation.According to Spokesperson Chris Finebone: “It is a mere charade, well-organised and choreographed by INEC in its bid to work from answer to question. The ultimate result can only be to announce the preferred partner and collaborator as winner against the AAC candidate, Biokpomabo Awara, who was clearly in the lead before collation was aborted. Whether INEC will succeed in its machinations will be seen in the days to come.

“Where and under whose custody were the result sheets and other sensitive materials involved in the collation process kept, since they were not returned to the Central Bank for safe-keeping? How come Governor Wike knew about the 17 LGAs whose results had been allegedly collated and had posted same on his official Twitter handle long before INEC made the announcement? Answers to these and other questions will continue to hang on the neck of INEC like an albatross.”

The APC, which was barred from contesting in the elections over disobedience of court order and its inability to resolve its internal crisis, said the unfolding script smacks of collaboration between Wike and INEC officials.But the spokesperson of the PDP campaign organisation and State Commissioner of Information and Communications Emma Okah maintained that the APC, having failed to contest the election, could not hold the entire state to ransom with its alleged lawlessness.He said only in a Banana Republic would a man who did not win election seek to impose himself through the backdoor with the aid of persons who do not mean well for the peace of the state.