INEC assures Rigging is impossible.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dismissed as baseless reports that it had hatched plots to the rig tomorrow’s Presidential and National Assembly polls for the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that the polls will be free, fair and credible. The electoral commission on Thursday moved sensitive election materials like ballot papers to the local councils, which in turn would be moved to the wards today. Friday, the materials will be moved to the polling units and voting points.

At the INEC Lagos office on Thursday electoral officers were at hand to collect the materials amid tight security. Hordes of Mobile police men were at hand and two armoured personnel carriers were strategically parked in front the commission.

Reacting to a front page advertorial ‘Exposed: How Jega plots to rig election for APC’ on some national newspapers on Wednesday,  Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Kayode Robert Idowu, in a statement said the allegation is baseless. He said that the advert was placed by a faceless group, which cited the constitution of a presidential election result collation committee by the INEC chairman as the basis for its allegation that a plot to rig the election has been hatched. 

“INEC would not have bothered to respond to such patently cynical and malicious allegation, but for the fact that the elections are days away and otherwise respectable national newspapers have lent themselves to be used as platforms to disseminate such falsehood. Any misinformation, even as baseless as in this particular case unless corrected could mislead innocent or undiscerning members of the public and cause unnecessary apprehension about the credibility of the electoral process. The Commission affirms that the allegation to manipulate or rig the election is completely false and baseless. The Chairman of the Commission as the Chief Electoral Commissioner of Nigeria and the Returning Officer of the presidential election has statutory and legal powers to constitute administrative committee(s) to facilitate the performance of his duties,” he said.

“INEC condemns these sinister and unpatriotic attempts to create unnecessary controversies aimed at discrediting the Commission through dissemination of falsehood. The Commission assures Nigerians of its commitment and resoluteness to conduct free, fair and credible elections. The Commission will not hesitate to institute legal action, where necessary, to protect its members from malicious and libellous allegations,” he added.