Plateau Central 2023: Review the BVAS machines used for the election-Amb. Golkuna Yohanna Gotom Senatorial Campaign Organization says, in a statement signed by Kavwam Stanley

Director General,Amb. Golkuna Yohanna Gotom Senatorial Campaign Organization, Plateau Central Senatorial District

The statement reads….

The suspense generated by the declaration of the Plateau Central Senatorial Zone election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as inconclusive, where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Amb. Golkuna Yohanna Gotom (JP), won with a landslide has caused apprehension within the Senatorial District, Plateau State, Nigeria and the entire global spectrum.

The G.Y Gotom Campaign Organization hereby commends the sterling and unbiased disposition of INEC in upholding the ethos of justice, fairness and transparency so far by refusing to kowtow to the shenanigans of the corrupt All Progressives Congress (APC) who are bent on coercing the commission to commit the most heinous travesty of justice by announcing a purported winner on the basis of fictitious results concocted by cognitively demented and intellectually malnourished elements in clear contravention of the Electoral Act 2002 as amended.

To set the records straight without assuming the position of a judge in our own cause, the Electoral Act has made it succinctly clear without ambiguity or any shadow of doubt that where the BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) is not used for accrediting voters in any general election, the result of such election in law shall be null, void and of no effect whatsoever and therefore cancelled. The above is supported by section 47 (1), (2) and (3) of the electoral act 2002 as amended.

It is therefore appalling and utterly disgusting for the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State, Mr. Sylvanus Namang to issue a press statement indicting INEC of electoral fraud for not announcing the candidate of his party as winner without due diligence which has been the trademark of his political party, the APC since 2015.

The spurious claims by Namang that the PDP has occupied the premises of INEC in Jos and Pankshin should be disregarded by all in view of the fact that our party as a law abiding conglomeration of dispassionate gentlemen and women would never condescend to that level of thuggery and lawlessness but rather providing INEC with all relevant documents to aid the commission in arriving at the truth about the non-usage of BVAS in Ten Federal Wards of Kanam LGA where votes were concocted by these desperados.

We hereby state in unequivocal terms without any vestige of pessimism that Amb. G. Y Gotom has won the Senatorial Election in Plateau Central and will be announced to the shame of our traducers when INEC in compliance with the Electoral Act is done with the review of our petition to the commission where we pointed out that elections did not hold in Ten Federal wards of Kanam which the commission only cancelled one.

Accordingly, we urge the commission to review the BVAS machines used for the election in the affected areas we flagged in our petition as prescribed by the Electoral Act and declare the winner to end the nightmare that our good people in Plateau Central have been subjected to giving that their mandate still hangs in the air.

We are not oblivious of the surreptitious mudslinging of the APC to compromise INEC to scuttle our mandate by all sort of inducements to the commission and the returning officer whom we credence are people of consummate integrity and tenacity. We strongly admonish INEC to remain steadfast in upholding the integrity of the electoral process and resist any inducement or intimidation to scuttle the will of the electorate as this could undermine the fragile peace in the State.

We are committed to nurturing our democracy and deepening the electoral process to be free, fair and free of any compromise whatsoever and we enjoin all men and women of goodwill to stand for equity and justice. The survival of the Nigerian State rests on the legitimacy of the electoral process which we are committed to uphold even at our detriment as our ambition does not supersede that of our collectivity.

Finally, APC should not mistake our simplicity for stupidity as law abiding citizens. Nobody has the monopoly of violence or stupidity and our patience should not be mistaken for weakness as we strive to maintain law and order till this election result is announced in favour of the legitimate winner who is Amb. G.Y Gotom.