Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has insisted the Nigerian workers will not accept any cooked results announced by the INEC in respect of last Saturday’s presidential and national assembly elections.

This is contained in a press statement released by the NLC president, Joe Ajaero, saying that the electoral body is to be blamed for the irregularities and malpractices associated with the election.

The statement reads: “We have had recourse to alert Nigerians earlier yesterday of our observations and reports that reached us from across the nation on the shoddy handling by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of their early Election Day activities.

“We talked of the dangers it posed to the entire process and its outcomes if nothing was done timely and wondered why that should be so given the huge resources invested in the Commission towards this Election. We called for urgent action by the Commission and key national Stakeholders to ensure that we have free, fair and credible elections.

“Unfortunately, the situation rather than getting better got worse as the day went on with heart-wrenching reports from across the nation of vile activities of individuals associated with some Parties and utter collusion of INEC officials and Security agencies to compromise the Election and subvert the will of the people.

“Using of thugs in Rivers state and in Lagos to mete out violence and intimidate voters in these states run counter to the tenets and practice of Democracy. The case of the now dishonourable member of the federal house of representatives from Rivers state captured on tape calling for the killing of certain people is not only abhorrent but is a recipe for further violence in our Polity.

“The threats as captured of Mc Oluomo of the Parks and Gardens in Lagos state warning certain voters to stay away from the Polling centres across the state violates decency and negates the principle of democratic engagement.

“The bloodletting, harassment, ballot box snatching and willful destruction of election materials especially in these two states even in the presence of members of the security agencies and INEC officials cannot be interpreted any other way except that of collusion. It calls for urgent investigation and action to reassure the people of their safety as the election runs its course.”

The NLC knocked the electoral body, INEC over its inability to “prevent the recurrence in this election of the ills of past elections”, adding that it speaks “volumes of its ill-preparedness for this election as can be demonstrated in the late arrivals of critical election materials to the Polling Units and the almost deliberate tampering of the BVAS in many Polling Units including the outright refusal of its operatives to upload results from the BVAS to the INEC Servers in total violation of the Rule of the election and INEC’s own election guidelines”.

The NLC also raised concern over the alleged activities of the Lagos State Resident Election Commissioner (REC) who was accused of not hiding his inclinations and dispositions to compromise the election in Lagos state before now.

It said the REC may “currently be presiding over the cooking of election results contrary to the choice of voters at the various Polling units across the state”.

“If this allegation is true, that may explain why Polling Unit officers were reluctant to transmit the BVAS reports for the Presidential elections to the official INEC Servers.

“This is completely unacceptable and we want INEC to ensure that any cooked result from any REC is not only rejected but the offenders be made to face the full weight of the Law,” the NLC added.

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