INEC Commissioner: We are not responsible for poor turnout, as PDP backs Melaye

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot be held responsible for the poor turnout of petitioners in Saturday’s verification of signatures for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye, an official has said.
The INEC Federal Commissioner in-charge of Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa states, Alhaji Mohammed Haruna, made the statement in Lokoja shortly after the end of the exercise.
Haruna said that the main concern of INEC was to ensure transparency in the process, insisting that the organisation was neutral in the bid to recall Melaye from the Senate.
“Turnout is not our problem; turnout is the problem of parties concerned, ours is to ensure transparency,” Haruna said.
The exercise was marred with controversy as many Kogi residents alleged that the commission or some agents manipulated their names into the register.
In various video clips on social media, some voters queried how their names got to the list when they did not participate in the move to recall Melaye.
Commenting on insinuations that INEC might tamper with the wish of the people, the commissioner said that nothing like that would happen, stressing that the agency had no interest in who won or lost in the matter.
“Nothing untoward will happen, I assure you. Whatever happened at the polling units is what INEC will announce,” he stated.
Commenting on the mix up in the list of petitioners, Haruna said that mistakes in such exercise was normal but gave an assurance that the mistakes would be corrected.
He lauded the peaceful conduct of the people before and during the exercise.
In Koton Karfe and Lokoja, the people conducted themselves well, although the turnout was poor.
At Ukwo polling unit in Koton Karfe, 18 out of 440 petitioners came for the verification, while at Oworo polling unit in Felele area of Lokoja, none of the 815 petitioners showed up.
Also at polling unit 004 of Ward 3 in Lokoja, 32 out of the 1,251 petitioners showed up.
During the exercise, there was no case of malfunctioning of card reader machines while security personnel adequately manned the polling centres.
Melaye, representing Kogi West in the Assembly, has been struggling to retain his seat, following a petition by some of his constituents in 2017 that he was not representing them well.
The senator’s accusers gathered signatures to demand his recall but Melaye, who accused the state Governor, Mr Yahaya Bello, of being the mastermind of the plot,  mobilised his supporters to resist the move.
He subsequently approached the court to stop the process but could not get the relief he sought at the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the poor turn out that characterised the recall bid signified a total rejection of the Governor Yahaya Bello-led administration in Kogi.
“The general apathy that greeted the exercise, in spite of government efforts to mobilise people to participate, is a clear indication that the APC has lost relevance in Kogi,” PDP said in a statement by Mr Dickson Achadu,  Director, Research and Documentation.
The statement was issued on Saturday in Lokoja, shortly after INEC conducted its verification exercise for the recall process.
In Kabba, INEC officials were threatened by youths, while some women and youth groups sang songs praising Dino Melaye and vowing to resist any attempt to disgrace him out of office.
The PDP, while accusing Bello of trying to force the idea on the people, said that the rejection of the recall process had confirmed that he had lost value in Kogi.
It thanked leaders and people of Kogi West senatorial district for heeding its call to shun the exercise.
“The failure of the recall exercise is an indication that the present administration is not popular which, of course, is only natural because it has inflicted poverty, hardship and suffering on the people,” the statement said.
The PDP accused the state government of being insensitive to the plight of the people, and condemned the Bello-led administration several months salaries and pensions.
“It is unfortunate that in spite of the massive resources available to the present administration, no visible development has been witnessed in the last three years.
“The failure of the recall process is a signal that the people have bid the administration goodbye.
“We want to advise Bello to start packing his load; the red card signal is clear. It is an indication that Governor Bello and his APC’s time in Kogi is up,” the statement said.