Never Deploy Festus Okoye For Election Duties in Cross River – PDP Tells INEC

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Cross River State has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to never assign its national electoral commissioner, Mr Festu Okoye to Cross River State for election duties.

At a news conference in Calabar, Chairman of the PDP, Venatius Ikem claimed that in the 2020 Cross River North senatorial by-election, Okoye openly worked for the success of the ruling APC.

Ikem demanded that Okoye be investigated and stopped from coming to the state to perpetuate his acts.

PDP also claimed that the acclaimed victory of the APC at last weekend’s by-election was fraughted with irregularities.

“We demand that Mr. Festus Okoye be investigated and never again posted for election duty to Cross River State because he has shown clearly that he comes here at the behest of Governor Ayade, to do his dirty work of subverting the will of the electorate in the state.”

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The party also demanded that the electoral umpire produce all BVAS machines used for the election to ascertain if the accreditation recorded in the machines corresponds with the number of votes declared by the Returning officer in the February 26 by-election.

“We demand that the INEC investigates her staff, especially one Mr. Toyin an assistant director or deputy director in the Commission’s office in Calabar in charge of the IT unit to unravel his interference with the BVAS machines deployed for the election in which he claimed that five units were missing before the election which is alleged to have suddenly emerged at election centres.”