INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye has described allegations by the ruling party, APC, that Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is his client as false.
APC did not accept submissions of the investigation committee chaired by him on the controversial outcome of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, which caused the governorship elections’ inconclusive decision.
But Festus is still saying Yakubu Dogara is not his client and he has “never written a single letter” on behalf of the House of Reps speaker.
His words, “I am a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and I graduated from the University of Jos in 1984. I was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985. The Hon. Speaker of the House of Representatives graduated from UNIJOS in 1992 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1993. I had left UNIJOS before the Speaker entered the University.
“Secondly, I am 34 years post-call as a lawyer and have been in private legal practice for 34 years. I am a constitutional lawyer and civil society activist. I have never written a single letter on his behalf or filed any document on his behalf. I have seen the Speaker only once in person at a workshop and it was from a distance,” Okoye stated.
“Those that are making wild allegations do not know anything about me.
“It is important to stick to the issues and remain within the confines of available facts.
“The Report of the investigation committee has been presented to the Commission and the Commission has accepted the report for implementation.
“The Commission sent us on a mission, and we carried out the assignment to the best of our ability. The issues in Tafawa Balewa Local Government are purely documentary and are already in public domain.
“The APC delegation to the stakeholders’ meeting was led by the Deputy Chairman of the party in the person of Muhammad A. Hassan, the State Legal Adviser and eight other members of the party.
“The agents of APC, PDP, PRP and NNPP signed the Polling Unit Results as well as the Registration Area Results.
“Collation of results for seven Registration Areas for governorship had taken place before the disruption of the process. Our mission was to ascertain the availability of the original and/or duplicate result sheets for the election and set in motion the process for the completion of collation of the process.
“Political parties should be circumspect in making allegations that are in the realm of fantasy. Parties should not make allegations that have no basis in fact and reality. It is important to stick to the issues and refrain from grandstanding.”
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