BREAKING: Plateau APC rejects governorship election result, vow to challenge process in court

The Leader of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), in Plateau State has rejected the result of the State gubernatorial election held on 18 March 2023, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The party also called on supporters in the state to remain calm, resilient, steadfast, peaceful, and law-abiding.

Chairman of APC in the State, Hon. Rufus Bature while addressing Journalists at the State Secretariat of the Party on Monday alleged that the entire electoral process as midwifed by the Independent Electoral Commission ( INEC) was characterized with bizarre tendencies on the part of the opposition PDP to rig the elections and thus subvert the will of the people.

“We consider it expedient to particularly address the general public on the overarching issues surrounding the conduct and outcome of the recent general election in Plateau State. The entire electoral process as a midwife by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was characterized by bizarre tendencies on the part of the opposition PDP to rig the elections and thus subvert the will of the people. There is therefore no gainsaying the fact that the funny and laughable outcome led to the so-called emergence of Barr. Caleb Mutfwang of the PDP as the winner of the Governorship polls smacks of a charade of democracy perpetrated via high-degree political robbery of the Millennium.

“By and large, it is important to stress here that several emerging facts in the last few days are already confirming our reservations about the entire exercise. Our reality checks including unfolding developments have Strongly indicated how electoral best practices were thrown overboard by members of the opposition PDP in active collaboration and collusion with the electoral umpire. For instance, the saga surrounding the recovery of the 14 missing BVAS machines meant for some polling units in Jos North LGA; the premeditated and reckless over-voting registered in Langtang North, Mangu, and Jos South LGAs as well as Tudun Wada and Kabong in Jos North LGA; and the unabashed manipulation of the electoral process by INEC officials and ad hoc staff to favor the opposition PDP in the State. All these have now come to full public glare. It is very clear that in areas where the APC won, the results have shown how the electorate such areas conducted and subscribed themselves to due diligence and electoral guidelines regarding accreditation and voting under the Electoral Act. We stand to be contradicted.

He described it as rather sad that the grotesque arm-twisting by the INEC especially through its failure to declare the results of the Plateau Central Senatorial polls which the APC won fair and square is one of the most compromised tendencies towards subverting the tenets of democracy. Such compromises are in addition to the heart-rending discoveries so far made by our legal team”.

The APC Chairman dismissed the result declared by INEC as a pyrrhic victory for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which will be overturned by the sheer weight of evidence against it.

He said it has evidence that the process was characterized by irregularities.

Bature further alleged that “Since the declaration of Bar Caleb Mutfwang as the winner of the Governorship election by INEC, the Opposition PDP has resorted to violence by destroying the APC’s campaign materials ( Billboards, flags, and posters ) this is particularly evident in Mangu LGA where the Generation Next Campaign office was unabashedly destroyed and pilfered.”.

He noted that in the aftermath of the general elections noticed a series of blackmails and propaganda by the Opposition through a barrage of Ill motivated religious and ethnic profiling against the APC and its candidates, saying they remain committed to their resolve on issue-based statements and actions.