Nov 11: PDP Tells INEC To Remove Sylvia Agu As Imo REC.

• The party argues that remaining in office, given the protests and letters from other political parties, would be a test of the people’s will.
• The party said that based on the INEC boss’ declaration, it would not accept any result that was not transmitted electronically

Prior to the upcoming elections on November 11, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has requested that Prof. Sylvia Agu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in charge of Imo, be removed from her position.

The PDP demanded Agu’s immediate dismissal during a press conference held at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja due to allegations of election fraud.

The party claimed that if she were to remain, it would be a test of the public’s will given that other political parties have expressed outrage and requested that the INEC remove her.

At the briefing, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, said the PDP and other political parties had written several letters to INEC calling for the removal of the REC, noting that INEC should do the needful now to prevent a repeat of Adamawa election fiasco.

The PDP noted that it has become imperative as Prof. Agu “Is compromised and her conduct in the 2023 National and House of Assembly elections where she allegedly manipulated and brazenly assisted the APC in rigging the elections are in the public domain.

“The continuing stay in office of Prof. Sylvia Agu as Imo REC is provocative, inciting, and amounts to testing the will of the people of Imo State and daring them to do their worst. INEC has a lot of RECs from which the INEC chairman can choose to replace Prof. Sylvia Agu and avoid a scenario that could be worse than what happened in the Adamawa State Governorship election, where INEC refused to change the compromised REC.

“INEC chairman must note that the integrity of an election process is directly about the confidence of the electorate. The Imo people have lost confidence in Prof Sylvia Agu’s neutrality, the PDP is asking INEC to immediately re-deploy her from Imo State.”

The PDP also reacted to the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu’s declaration that INEC will make full use of its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal for uploading and electronic transmission of results in the elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi States.

The party said that based on the INEC boss’ declaration, it would not accept any result that was not transmitted electronically.

It said “The PDP holds INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, directly responsible and accountable to his pronouncements and that INEC is bound by Law to electronically transmit results directly from the polling units using these technologies.

“The PDP is fully prepared for these elections and, in line with the commitment of INEC, will not accept any other means of transmitting results in these elections except as this manner pronounced by the INEC Chairman in line with the requirement of the Electoral Act, 2022.