THERE was drama at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on Monday when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) resumed the collation of the February 25 presidential election results for the second day.
The drama ensued when a former member of the 8th Nigerian National Assembly, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye protested the results from Ekiti State announced earlier on Sunday.
Melaye, an agent to the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, caused a stir when he fiercely insisted that the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu must not accept the results of Ekiti, alleging that there were incidents of over voting and electoral irregularities.
Yakubu, at first, entertained Melaye’s complaints but the former lawmaker sprang up to his feet and demanded that the presentation of results by state collation officers for the presidential election (SCOPs) did not in any way translate to the declaration of results.
Melaye also said the results presented at the national collation centre weren’t uploaded on the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV). He was immediately supported by other party agents.
The INEC chairman overruled Melaye and asked the SCOPs for Ondo and Osun to proceed with their results.
However, Melaye stood up and yelled that the results presented by the SCOPs won’t be accepted by his party.
“You are being disruptive,” Mahmood later cautioned Melaye and announced a one-hour break.
Many party leaders have bitterly complained that INEC officials at the polling units were unable to upload election results to the IReV. The IReV and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) are new technologies introduced by the electoral body for the accreditation and electronic transmission of votes for this year’s polls.
Elections for the office of the President, 360 House of Representatives and 109 Senatorial seats were held in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday and Nigerians expect the declaration of results by the electoral umpire.
