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Festus Okoye, A National Commissioner of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, has refuted the viral allegations by the All Progressives Congress that Rt.Hon Yakubu Dogara was his client at a time.
While stating his reaction to the press release by the APC, that the party has rejected the reports submitted by the Investigation Committee which he chaired over the controversy surrounding the results of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, which made the eelctoral body declare the election as inconclusive.
The electoral officer. stood his ground insisting that the speaker was never his client and has not brought any case before him at any time According to the INEC boss he had “never written a single letter” or help the lawmaker to fill any document before.
“Secondly, I am 34 years post-call as a lawyer and have been in private legal practice for 34 years. I am a constitutional lawyer and civil society activist. I have never written a single letter on his behalf or filed any document on his behalf. I have seen the Speaker only once in person in a workshop and it was from a distance”, he stated.
Mr Okoye who also doubles as the commission’s chairman on (Information and Voter Education Committee) stated this in an interview with the press
He also issued a stern warning to political parties “to be circumspect in making allegations that are in the realm of fantasy.”
He disclosed that “Those that are making wild allegations do not know anything about me. It is important to stick to the issues and remain within the confines of available facts. The Report of the Investigation Committee has been presented to the commission and the commission has accepted aspects of the report for implementation.
“The commission sent us on a mission, and we carried out the assignment to the best of our ability. The issues in Tafawa Balewa Local Government are purely documentary and are already in the public domain. The APC delegation to the stakeholders meeting was led by the Deputy Chairman of the party in the person of Muhammad A. Hassan, the State Legal Adviser and eight other members of the party. The agents of APC, PDP, PRP and NNPP signed the Polling Unit Results as well as the Registration Area Results.
“Collation of results for seven Registration Areas for governorship had taken place before the disruption of the process. Our mission was to ascertain the availability of the original and/or duplicate result sheets for the election and set in motion the process for the completion of collation of the process.Political parties should be circumspect in making allegations that are in the realm of fantasy. Parties should not make allegations that have no basis in fact and reality. It is important to stick to the issues and refrain from grandstanding.”
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