BY TheCable
Despite Governor Kayode Fayemi’s acceptance of defeat in the June 21 Ekiti gubernatorial poll, TheCable understands that the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is pushing for Ayo Fayose’s victory to be challenged in court.
Fayemi lost the election to Fayose, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), by a wide margin and promptly made a concession speech ─ considered rare for a Nigerian politician.
The election was generally seen to be free and fair ─ although not without complaints about the militarisation of the state.
However, a state government official has said “there was something fishy about the ballot paper and the ink that needs to be challenged in court”.
“We are currently gathering evidence. We have received several complaints from people about the hi-tech rigging that was perpetrated. Even though the governor has accepted defeat, that does not stop us from challenging Fayose’s victory in court if we are able to gather enough evidence to prove our case,” he said.
The official said the ballot papers were designed in a way that made the thumbprints to disappear “within minutes” while “pre-programmed” votes would later appear.
“In other words, all the votes that were announced by INEC were pre-programmed. That means the thumb-printing process was irrelevant. The votes were pre-allocated on the ballot papers through hi-tech manipulation,” he said, using the term “photochromic” to describe the technology allegedly used to produce the ballot papers.
Photochromism, in simple language, allows for transformation of chemical spices between two forms ─ meaning what you see can change to another form in seconds.
It is a technology commonly used for eyeglasses. They could be plain in one moment and dark the next after absorbing electromagnetic radiation.
The official did not explain how this technology can be used to alter voting on a ballot paper but said: “A clear example of this manipulation is at former governor Segun Oni’s polling unit in Ifaki. Oni, an APC member, went there with 11 members of his family, including his wife. APC got only one vote there, while Fayose got 51.”
The official, who refused to be named because a final position has not yet been taken, said Oni’s wife had to ask her husband: “Darling, didn’t you vote for APC?”
“In my own case, I had problem thumb-printing the ballot. The ink was not impressing well. I later noticed that the ink disappeared from my thumb in less than 40 minutes. When I shared this experience with others, many had a similar story to tell. That was when we began to suspect that something sinister had been perpetrated,” the official said.
Efforts are currently being made by APC officials to test this allegation by experimenting with a few ballot papers, after which the party will decide on the next line of action.
When TheCable contacted the governor on phone, he confirmed that there was suspicion on the ballot paper and the ink but said he would not comment until “there is sufficient proof”.
The PDP candidate, Fayose, could not be reached on phone. He was yet to reply to an SMS at the time this report was written.
When TheCable contacted the spokesman of INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, he said he was “disappointed” that a reporter “who went to school” could ask him such a question on “tales by moonlight”. He declined further comments.
This will be the third time that allegations of “hi-tech rigging” would be made against INEC.
In the April 2011 presidential election, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) ─ which has now fused into the APC ─ alleged that INEC computers were programmed to discount votes cast for its candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, in the southern part of Nigeria.
Also, after the governorship election of Kogi State in December 2011, the Action Congress of Nigeria ─ which has also fused into the APC ─ said the poll was rigged “scientifically”.
PDP’s Wada Idris was declared winner after a keen contest with Prince Abubakar Audu, a former governor of the state.
Meanwhile, associates of Fayemi have told TheCable that the governor felt let down by the APC hierarchy in his unsuccessful re-election bid.
“Support came too late in the day for him,” one of the commissioners said, adding that the feeling inside government house in Ado-Ekiti is that Fayemi had been isolated by the powers-that-be in the party because he was perceived to be “too independent” and “growing in influence”.
“Fayemi’s major sin is that he looked at the lean resources of Ekiti and decided to focus solely on the development of the state. You can come up with many theories on why the election did not go in his favour, but we all know that if he had decided to waste the state’s resources, he would have won re-election and destroyed the future of millions of Ekiti children,” a commissioner said.
One of the factors listed to have militated against Fayemi’s re-election is his perceived interest in the vice-presidential slot of the APC which is said to have displeased Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is also said to be eyeing the slot.
“At no time did Fayemi put himself forward for any vice-presidential position. If people are doing permutations and decide to include his name, it has nothing to do with Fayemi. He was more focussed on the progress of Ekiti than personal ambition,” he said.
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