Third force to drag INEC to court over alleged electoral fraud, military collusion

The Alliance for Defence of Democracy (ADD) has said it will be instituting legal action against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for postponing the presidential and National Assembly on February 16.

The ADD, which is a coalition of presidential candidates in the 2019 general elections, made the disclosure in a communique on Saturday, March 23, This Day reports.

The coalition protested alleged manipulation of the election results by INEC, military and other state actors across the country.

According to the communique, the third force said it has no option than “to embark on the plan after it became obvious that the military, INEC officials and some state actors allegedly subverted the will of the people to ensure the All Progressives Congress (APC) achieve their goal during the elections”.

The communique read: “It is abundantly clear to us that there was a strategic collusion among state agents, political gladiators and some unscrupulous officials of the INEC to subvert the will of the electorate by manipulating, doctoring, concocting, manufacturing and allocating imaginary votes and figures parties.”

“We also received some pathetic confessions from some corps members, serving as presiding officers of polling unit in some Northern states that electoral officials in their areas of assignment were subjected to heavy terror and duress by state and political agents. Thus, nothing like card reader, PVC and the rest was used.

“To this end, a day of national mass action to protest and redress all the lapses observed in the 2019 elections will be announced in the first week of April 2019. All allied movements, parties and stakeholders are hereby put on notice and alert.”