The former governor of Ebonyi State and senator for Ebonyi South Zone, David Umahi, has come under fire for allegedly fabricating the BVAS report of the Independent National Electoral Commission. More than 30 civil society organisations and human rights organisations have demanded his arrest and prosecution.
The CSOs criticised the development as a sign of danger to the country’s democracy and the rule of law as they left their news conference on Friday in Abuja. They urged the appropriate agencies to look into the situation and put those responsible to justice.
Recall that Hon. Linus Okorie, a senatorial candidate for the Labour Party in the February 25 national elections and a two-term member of the House of Representatives who represented the Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency, filed an election petition with the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in an effort to be declared the legitimate winner for receiving the most valid votes.
Additionally, he claims that Umahi was not nominated in a legitimate primary of a known political party in Nigeria.
According to information obtained, INEC is accused of providing competing Certified True Copies of election records, particularly BVAS reports, to opposing parties in the same cases before tribunals across the nation.
The coalition of CSOs includes Compressed Accountability Lab, Nigeria; the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy; the Borno Coalition for Democracy and Progress; BudgIT Foundation; the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre; the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa; the HEDA Resource Centre; the State of the Union; the Tax Justice and Governance Platform; and Transition Monitorin.
“A case in point is the Ebonyi State National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal,” they claim, “where the immediately preceding governor of Ebonyi State/Senator for Ebonyi South Senatorial District, Engr David Nweze Umahi, has been accused of presenting a forged CTC of the BVAS Accreditation Report and Compliance Certificate to the Tribunal in defence of cases challenging his election.”
“Umahi was accused of obtaining the aforementioned BVAS Report and Certificate of Compliance from the ICT Department of the INEC Headquarters in a petition submitted to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) by his Labour Party rival, Linus Okorie. The Secretary to the Commission, however, disallowed the CTC Report and Compliance Certificate by letter attached to the petition because they were not AUTHENTIC, or from the Commission.
“There is a possibility that a cartel is working out of INEC Headquarters, conspiring with desperate politicians to produce forged or false copies of the Commission’s official documents, like in this case, with the aim of sullying the impartiality of the ongoing election tribunals around the nation.
The consequences of such a criminal conspiracy will have a serious impact on the fairness of any subsequent court rulings and the overall growth of a credible election system in the nation. We demand an urgent and thorough investigation of the petition raised by the police in order to identify any cartel operating inside INEC who may be criminally manipulating official papers and to guarantee that those charged are brought to justice.
“All of these have undermined voters’ faith in the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) ability to conduct free, fair, and credible elections as well as their hope and confidence in it. A significant barrier to our democracy’s development is this.
Okorie wrote to INEC for confirmation after realising that his main opponent, Engr. Umahi, was using the CTC of the BVAS report of the election to influence the tribunal. The electoral judge responded by stating that he had the genuine CTC and Umahi’s was not.
According to the INEC letter, “Your letter dated May 18, 2023, on the aforementioned subject matter pertains
“The Commission wishes to certify the authenticity of the BVAS Report attached as Annexure “A” to your letter.”In a letter to INEC dated May 18, 2023 and signed by Alex Akoja, Esq., his lead attorney, the LP senatorial candidate stated in part, “Our Client is embarrassed that two diametrically opposed Certified True Copies (CTC) of the same document are coming from your Commission, despite being signed by two different people at different times. The one designated as Annexure “A” is the one delivered to our Client first and is on schedule.
“It is on the basis of this assumption that our Client has directed us to contact you to ask you to use your good offices to cause an investigation into this matter and to confirm to us which of the two Certified True Copies is legitimate,” the letter continues.
The former governor could not be reached for comment on the circumstance. As of the time of reporting this article on Friday night, he was not answering calls or responding to messages on his mobile.
