Enugu Tribunal: Fourteen Parties Protest Alleged Attempt by LP to Tamper with BVAS

A coalition of 14 political parties in Enugu State has protested what they described as an attempt by the Labour Party (LP) to tamper with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used in the conduct of the March 18, 2023 governorship election.

The parties said that such an attempt was contrary to paragraph 8 of the court’s order, which expressly states that the LP and its governorship candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, be allowed to inspect, but not tamper with the BVAS machines.

They equally pointed out that whereas the order for LP to inspect BVAS was granted on 29th March, 2023, the party and Edeoga did not presented it till the last minute because they wanted to take other parties by surprise and inspect the BVAS alone.

They accused LP of displaying “rascally behaviours”, warning that nobody should set the state on fire.

Addressing newsmen at INEC’s state headquarters in Enugu on Wednesday, one of the 14 party chairmen present and a gubernatorial candidate in the March 18 election, Dr. Afam Ani of the All Peoples Party (APP) said: “We were invited by INEC for BVAS inspection because a court gave an order that the LP should come and inspect the BVAS today. But we actually came here yesterday, but the LP insisted it was not going to hold and it was shifted to today.

“INEC complied with the court order by bringing out the BVAS. The directive said that LP should inspect the BVAS. But they came and insisted they must tamper with the BVAS. But inspection is not tampering with the BVAS. The Electoral Law says the BVAS must not be tampered with. INEC is the only body constitutionally empowered to deal with the BVAS. So, we said it would not happen.

“The LP has been displaying numerous rascally behaviours in Enugu State, and we have also witnessed it today. It was too awful. But we, the political parties are here to state that INEC played their part according to what the court expected it to do. We played our part too because we were here to observe what was going to happen. And we observed that the thing was done according to the directive of the court.

“We also want to state that nobody should set Enugu State on fire. Enugu State is our home. The election has been conducted and the results declared. Aggrieved parties are seeking redress in court. We are now into governance and the state does not need all these distractions”. 

Also speaking, the Enugu State Chairman and gubernatorial candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, Dr. Ken Ikeh, expressed disappointment at what he described as LP’s offensive conducts.

“I was disappointed at the attitude exhibited by the LP. They brought a handwritten list of other materials they were now requesting from INEC, different from what is recorded in the court order. But there was no objection.

“In the process, we agreed that those materials should be sorted out per quarter, per quarter, because they can’t all be brought out at the same time. The first set of BVAS brought out was when the argument started. INEC then called all the parties to decide on what should be done because it is a neutral body.

“But LP, which is just one out of the 14 political parties present, was insisting that their wish must be done and their wish was that they can handle the material whichever way they wanted, but which we all objected to”. 

On his part, the Deputy Chairman of the PDP in Enugu State, Chief Innocent Ezeoha, accused the LP of mobilising their members, who ought not be involved to intimidate INEC and create crisis and confusion.

“There were about 14 other political parties present, all chairmen, not even representatives. So, we insisted that BVAS should be inspected, not be opened or tampered with, as LP wanted it.

“To our utmost surprise again, LPs that were not invited by INEC all surged into this place and they were demanding that BVAS should be opened and tampered with. That is why we objected to it. BVAS should be inspected, not tampered with”.

He however commended INEC for complying with the court order by bringing out the BVAS for inspection, noting that the exercise had been conducted.