The Labour Party in Imo is accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of denying them access to the BVAS used in the November 11 Governorship Election. The party’s Chairman, Mr Callistus Ihejiagwa, made this claim during a press conference in Owerri on Saturday. He stated that INEC’s denial of access to the BVAS goes against a court order from the Election Petition Tribunal in Owerri on November 26, 2023.
The LP, PDP, YPP, and APGA all submitted applications to INEC for the inspection of election materials, including the BVAS. Ihejiagwa emphasized that the forensic inspection of the BVAS is specifically mentioned in the Tribunal’s order. However, INEC stated on Wednesday that only their headquarters has the authority to grant access to the BVAS for inspection. They provided only 65 out of over 5,000 BVAS machines for inspection and denied the LP’s team of forensic experts access to them.
Ihejiagwa expressed his confusion as to why INEC would intentionally hinder the litigation process when they are supposed to be impartial. He mentioned that an INEC official is reading out figures of accreditation from the machines without allowing them access to Certified True Copies of the card copies for their due diligence. With less than 24 hours left to examine the BVAS machines and present their findings to the Election Petition Tribunal, they are still awaiting access to the machines.
Mr Okwudili Anozie, the LP governorship candidate’s counsel, emphasized the importance of the court’s order for forensic examination of the BVAS machines. This examination would ensure that the machines have not been tampered with before and after the election. Anozie criticized INEC for disobeying the court order and expressed the party’s confidence in the judiciary to deliver justice.