Politicians, Security Agencies Tasked On Rules Of The Game

IN spite of palpable apprehension among political gladiators, especially the two major political parties in Benue State, some individuals and groups do not see today’s rerun election in 179 polling units as capable upsetting the direction of the earlier results.

INEC declared the Benue governorship election inconclusive on the grounds that the margin of lead between PDP’S candidate, Governor Ortom, and APC’S Emmanuel Jime stood at over 81,000, which is less than the 121,019 registered voters in areas that had their votes cancelled.

In specific terms, Ortom had scored 410,576 votes, while Jime garnered 329,022 votes, creating the difference of 81,554.

But Chairman of Middle Belt Movement for Justice and Peace, (MBMJP), Joe Bukka, said base on the record obtained from INEC, the total number of PVCS collected by the electorate in the effected communities is 61,040.

Bukka claimed that only about 28,000 voters in the 179 polling units actually came out to vote and were actually accredited before the elections were cancelled on March 9, excluding Mbalom Council Ward, where no election took place because the materials were completely burnt, insisting that there is no way APC can cancel the deficit.

A civil society group, Centre for Transparency and Social Justice (CTSJ), said today’s election would be a mere academic exercise and a waste of time and resources. Its Executive Secretary, Patriot Hundu Bunde, alleged that with inconclusive elections, INEC was deliberately creating bumps to obstruct the free flow of the electoral process in the country, adding: “The parameter INEC used in declaring the last election inconclusive has defied all logic. How can INEC declare an election inconclusive on the grounds that the figure of registered voters in polling units and wards where elections were cancelled or did not hold was 121,019?

“INEC is aware and is in possession of the records, which clearly indicated that the number of PVCS in the 179 polling units affected is just over 60,000, while the margin of lead is 81,554.

“We are still in shock over what INEC did in Benue State and other parts of the country where rerun have been scheduled, because the parameter used in declaring the election inconclusive was skewed from the begin, which casts doubt on the sincerity of INEC as an unbiased umpire.

“PVCS collected in the affected polling units should be the emphasis and not the number of registered voters, since majority of the voters do not have PVCS and it was easy for the INEC to know from its records, rather than embarking on an academic exercise, waste of time and resources in Benue State in the name of rerun.”

Bunde maintained that it is obvious that the PDP governorship candidate won the election with 81,554 and the APC can never upturn it.

During the week, Ortom and Jime embarked on a quiet wooing of voters with gifts and promises in areas where polling takes place today, even as solidarity visits by supporters to the homes of the two gladiators continued.

Amidst the intrigues and strategies to win at all cost, press conferences and media briefings have taken the centre stage, as has social media.