The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has embarked on the regeneration and collation of governorship election results of Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi state.
The re-collation follows the vacation of Court Order by an Abuja High Court on Monday and is taking place at the INEC Headquarters in Bauchi before a formal announcement by the State Returning Officer.
The results collation was stopped by an earlier Court Order based on a suit filed by Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar and the APC but the Abuja High Court ordered today that the results of Tafawa Balewa earlier cancelled by the state Returning Officer, Prof. Kyari Mohammed, be collated and announced.
Addressing journalists on the process, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Bauchi State, Ibrahim Abdullahi said: “Right now in that room, they are submitting the regenerated or reconstructed results which were carted away, from the wards to the Local Government Collation Officer.
“After that, the Local Government Collation Officer will come to the state Collation Officer, submit his report and after that, the State Collation Officer will round up, declare and return the winner.”
He said that the process was based on the provisions of Section 6 & 7 of the INEC guidelines for the 2019 general elections.
According to him, the sections empower a REC, in the case of any incidence leading to the mutilation or destruction of results, to order the LGA Collation Officer to regenerate the results using form EC8B.
“I have already given them that permission,” he said.
