BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
A Civil Society Organisation, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, has called for the sack of Chidi Nwafor, the National Director of ICT, Independent National Electoral Commission, for allegedly colluding with national network providers to engage in high stake rigging of the Anambra governorship poll.
The CSO, in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Emeka Umeagbalasi and Chidinma Udegbunam, made available to journalists, claimed that Nwafor was instrumental to the malfunctioning of Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System machines in most of the polling centres in the state.
The statement by the CSO read, “The BVAS mass failure or malfunctioning of same has rigged out over 70per cent of the courageous voters that had come out to be electronically captured to vote. We have gathered from many of the polling booths in the state that failure of the BVAS machines is widespread and has forced over 70per cent of the voters not to be captured thereby rubbishing the popularity and credibility of the exercise.
“It also appears that the rigging is a high tech one spearheaded by the INEC’s ICT, done in conspiracy with some principal national network providers. It must be remembered that the same Chidi Nwafor was at the centre of strong accusation back in November 2017 Anambra governorship poll during which the Commission controversially announced 8,540 voters as having been accredited but did not vote only for the number to be discovered later to have emanated from criminally uploaded procured PVCs as validly cast votes.
“It is our strong call on INEC to sack its ICT National Director and cancel and repeat the poll so as to give same the credibility and popularity it deserves. INEC must also reverse this high tech rigging and find alternatives to the massive failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System so that voters in the state can vote conscientiously.”
