As a result of the alleged continuous refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his party access to electoral materials used in the conduct of the election, as ordered by the Court of Appeal, the candidate of the main opposition party has threatened to pursue the imprisonment of the Chairman of the electoral body, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, by filing contempt proceedings against him.
Atiku, who has also accused the electoral umpire of bias and spreading falsehood, is likely to press contempt charge against the electoral body next week.
The main opposition PDP has said the reaction of the presidency to a video of a media interview granted by a top official of INEC, confirming the existence of a central election results transmission server in the commission, has further shown that President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are jittery over the petition of its candidate at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
But the spokesman of the Presidential Campaign Council of the APC, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN, has said that some videos circulating on the social media purportedly showing how the February 23, 2019 presidential election was rigged, are of no effect as the courts would be guided by the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC’s guidelines.
Nigeria’s Court of Appeal in Abuja had on March 6 ordered INEC to allow Atiku and his party to inspect and obtain Certified True Copy (CTC) of election materials it used in the conduct of the presidential election.
The court in its ruling on an ex-parte filed by the former vice president and the PDP also ordered INEC to make available all documents and electoral materials used for the election for the purpose of the inspection.
However, nearly two months after the order was made, INEC was yet to comply with the Atiku legal team, saying it would have no choice but to seek the committal of Yakubu to prison for alleged disobedience to a valid order of court.
A member of Atiku’s legal team, Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN, who spoke to newsmen, alleged that all efforts to implement the order of the Court of Appeal were frustrated by the uncooperative stance of INEC.
He said: “They have refused to cooperate with the Atiku legal team by making accessible to them ballot papers, electoral materials and other devices used during the election, which the Court of Appeal, Abuja ordered them to give to Atiku nearly two months ago.
“They have bluntly refused to do this. Every day we send lawyers there, they would not cooperate.
“If that be the case, they will likely force the Atiku legal team to issue forms 48 and 49 against INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to be imprisoned for contempt of court because that is the only weapon in the hands of a person who had secured the order of a court, which is being violated with impunity just as INEC is currently doing.”
He stated that INEC rather than maintain its expected role of an independent and impartial umpire, has descended into the arena, taking sides by “carrying respondent briefs and sharing issues with petitioners,” saying, “this automatically means it has taken sides with one of the parties.”
The senior lawyer further berated the commission for spreading falsehood by denying the presence of a central server at the commission where results from polling units were transmitted to.
“INEC had before, during and after the election maintained that they have a central server, which results from polling units will be transmitted electronically. It is on U-tube, online videos, newspapers, social media and others, yet the same INEC is suddenly filing a reply denying this thing,” he said.
The Court of Appeal had in a unanimous ruling delivered by Justice Abdul Aboki, held that it is in the interest of justice for Atiku and the PDP to be given access to inspect materials used by INEC in the conduct of the presidential election.