The People's Democratic Party, PDP, in Kaduna State, and All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday traded words over alleged tampering of electoral documents in the custody of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
While the PDP accused the APC of tampering with some ballot documents under the care of INEC, in the state, APC on its part, said the allegation was not only baseless, but an attempt to mislead the Tribunal and the public.
PDP in a statement by its Secretary, Ibrahim Wusono, among others said, "on the afternoon of Saturday, 8th July 2023, a member of our party who was the collation/returning officer of the PDP in the 2023 presidential and governorship elections, along with some lawyers, was at the premises of the Kaduna State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to get Certified True Copies (CTC) of some documents that the election petition Tribunal had subpoenaed INEC to produce.'
"As expected, they were at the INEC office to inspect the document that INEC had sorted out. What usually happens is that once INEC presents copies of the document to us, we write it down in the schedule of documents list that we have for the tribunal.
"On that day, our delegation went to their office and saw some of their staff tampering with some documents from Kaduna South LGA. When they were questioned, they couldn't explain but took some of the documents and ran away leaving some behind. We immediately called their superior officer with whom we were working and reported what we had seen. The person came and picked up the remaining documents after we made a video of them.
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"But the PDP in Kaduna State was surprised to see a statement from the APC immediately after the video got out. The APC even tried to drag the election tribunal into it when the video our person made didn't mention the tribunal or the APC. We interpreted it as a preemptive attempt to deflect attention from possible culpability by the APC.
Reacting however, APC Secretary in the state, Yahaya Pate in a statement said "the APC Kaduna State Chapter condemns in strong terms the attempt by the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) to mislead the Gubernatorial Elections Tribunal and the public. In the party's desperate bid to rescue its fatally flawed case, it has resorted to mutilating ballot papers and blaming it on the APC.
"Contrary to the PDP's false claims, the APC has always been committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and adherence to the rule law. We categorically deny any involvement or intention to thumbprint ballot papers ahead of their admission as evidence in court. Such baseless accusations are nothing more than an attempt by the PDP to divert attention from their own misconduct and discredit the ongoing tribunal proceedings.
"The APC calls on the PDP to stop deploying subterfuge in their desperate attempt to gain undue advantage at the Gubernatorial Elections Tribunal. We urge them to respect the judicial process, present their case with credible evidence, and refrain from spreading misinformation that undermines the credibility of the tribunal and the democratic institutions of our great nation."
