Edo Election: Stop Spreading Falsehood, INEC Warns APC

<h4>Edo Election<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission&comma; INEC has debunked claims by the All Progressives Congress&comma; APC that the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System&comma; BVAS&comma; submitted by the People&&num;8217&semi;s Democratic Party&comma; PDP&comma; for inspection to authentic actual votes in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State was &&num;8220&semi;smuggled&&num;8221&semi; into INEC office&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In a statement signed by Dr Anugbum Onuoha&comma; Resident Electoral Commissioner&comma; Edo INEC&comma; the Commission warns that it will not tolerate manipulations and outright falsehood&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It stated that it has investigated the claims by APC and found it to be &&num;8220&semi;baseless&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The statement is reproduced below unedited<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The Independent National Electoral Commission &lpar;INEC&rpar;&comma; Edo State&comma; has concluded its thorough investigation into the allegations made by the All Progressives Congress &lpar;APC&rpar; regarding the purported smuggling of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System &lpar;BVAS&rpar; machines and voters&&num;8217&semi; registers into the INEC office by members of the Peoples Democratic Party &lpar;PDP&rpar;&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Following a comprehensive review of the allegations&comma; it has been determined that the allegations are baseless&comma; unsubstantiated&comma; and entirely without merit&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>INEC maintains a steadfast commitment to upholding the integrity of the electoral process&comma; and at no time were the BVAS machines or voters&&num;8217&semi; registers compromised or unlawfully accessed by any political party or external entity&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>We fully understand the gravity of such claims&comma; which is why the investigation was conducted with the utmost rigor and impartiality&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>As an institution charged with the sacred responsibility of ensuring free&comma; fair&comma; and credible elections&comma; INEC will not tolerate any form of malpractice or manipulation&comma; and the integrity of all electoral materials remains fully intact&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>In light of these findings&comma; we are in full compliance with the recent court order directing the inspection of electoral materials&comma; including<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>the BVAS machines and voters&&num;8217&semi; registers&period; INEC is prepared to facilitate this inspection process&comma; ensuring transparency and adherence<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>to the rule of law&period; We urge all parties to cooperate fully during this process&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>We appeal to all political actors to focus on the democratic principles that bind us and avoid actions or rhetoric that may undermine public confidence in our electoral system&period; INEC&&num;8217&semi;s commitment to neutrality and excellence in electoral administration remains unwavering&comma; and we will continue to work towards the preservation of democracy and the rule of law in Edo State and Nigeria at large&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Thank you&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Dr&period; Anugbum Onuoha<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Resident Electoral Commissioner &lpar;REC&rpar;&comma; Edo State Independent National Electoral Commission &lpar;INEC&rpar;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;