The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the results being paraded by Atiku Abubakar, the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is fake.
INEC stated this while responding to the petition of Mr Abubakar and his party who are challenging the outcome of the February 23 exercise.
The legal team of the former vice president and the PDP had dragged the commission, the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) among others to the presidential election tribunal, presenting electronic sheets that purportedly contained the genuine results of the presidential election.
A website which published the results claimed to have gotten them from the server of the electoral body.
The team told the tribunal that their clients, according to the electronic result sheets, won the election with over six million votes but the electoral body suppressed and manipulated the results to favour incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari who was declared winner on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Describing the electronic sheets as fake, INEC in its response filed on Thursday said it does not share information with the website which published the electronic results.
“INEC does not share information with such an unclassified entity and any information purportedly derived therefrom which does not accord with the result as declared by INEC is not authentic but rather was invented for the purpose of the tribunal,” an excerpts of the response published by Premium Times read.
The electoral body said abiding by the Nigerian Constitution, it does not transmit results electronically against the manual prescribed by the law.
“INEC specifically denies the existence of electronic transmission of results and it is unknown to the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended),” it added.
Meanwhile, the APC has told the tribunal to dismiss the petition from Atiku, claiming the former vice president is not a Nigerian and stands disqualified to have contested the election.
Atiku has responded saying that by their claim the ruling party is attempting unconstitutionally redefine the term ‘Nigerian.’
A date is yet to be fixed for the hearing of the suit.
