Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate for Borno Central senatorial district in the just-concluded presidential and National Assembly elections, Hon Muhammed Kumalia, has asked the inspector-general of police, Usman Baba Alkali and the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS) Yusuf Bichi to investigate Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad-hoc staff over alleged electoral offences.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja weekend, Kumalia said one Madu (male) and Rifkatu (female) were caught thumbprinting and stuffing ballot boxes in respect of Mafa local government right inside the premises of the INEC office in Maiduguri, insisting that such incidences should be investigated and prosecuted.
He also urged the security agencies to investigate the culpability of the INEC officials that caused the release of the suspects and also took back the ballot papers and indelible ink that were handed over to the police as an exhibit.
” Arrest the electoral officer for Mafa local government area and the INEC officials that collected the bundles of ballot papers (exhibit) and returned it to the INEC office, ostensibly to continue with their tampering of evidence, and investigate the actions of the DPO of Bulumkutu Police Station to determine the level of his connivance to suppress investigation of crime,” he said.
He also calls for the DSS, and IGP to invite the electoral officers for Dikwa, Kala Balge, and Maiduguri Metropolitan local governments and investigate their actions to determine the level of interference with evidence in respect of electoral materials for their local governments.
“We believe that there is collusion and conspiracy between the INEC office Maiduguri, the ad-hoc staff, and the electoral officer for Mafa local government area to commit the offence of tampering with evidence and they found the DPO Bulumkutu Police Station willing to help them cover their tracks.
“We also believe the same thing has happened in respect of Dikwa, Kala Balge, and Maiduguri Metropolitan local governments, all within Borno Central Senatorial District.
“With the revelations we are seeing, only God knows how many local governments’ election materials have been tampered with after the elections,” he said.
He said, “While our team of lawyers was undertaking the inspection of materials on 22nd March 2023, our inspectors discovered some INEC Ad Hoc Staff sorting out and rearranging and counting ballot papers and stuffing them in different ballot boxes in respect of Mafa, Kala Balge and Dikwa local governments.
“Our inspectors immediately raised the alarm and accordingly reported the incident to the Borno State resident electoral commissioner (REC). They drew the attention of the REC that the actions of the Ad-Hoc staff amounted to tampering with evidence.
“The REC assured our team that the Ad Hoc Staff were only rearranging the documents that were dumped on them by the respective local government electoral officers who brought the materials from the local governments. Although we were not satisfied with the explanation, we gave them the benefit of the doubt and continued with the inspection.
“To our surprise, by the next day, Thursday 23rd, March 2023, our inspectors this time around caught red-handed two Ad-Hoc staff thumbprinting ballot papers and stuffing them into Ballot Boxes for Mafa local government area right inside the premises of the INEC office in Maiduguri.
“Our Inspectors immediately arrested the two staff involved in the thumb printing and stuffing of Ballot Boxes and took them to the Bulumkutu Police Station together with the bundles of ballot papers that were thumb printed and the indelible ink they used.
“We were surprised that no official of the Maiduguri INEC office took interest to accompany our team to the police station to ensure the arrest of the Ad-Hoc staff and investigate any possible crimes,” he concluded.
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