A lawyer representing the Rijau PDP candidate in the recent local government election, Barrister Emmanuel Egbonoje,Umar Buda Abubakar has accused the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NISEC) of refusing to release certified true copies of election materials needed to file their petition.
According to him, they applied for the documents on November 11, more than ten days after the election. However, NISEC officials claimed the materials were unavailable due to “security reasons.” He described the response as shocking, noting that such documents should normally be ready within a few days after elections.
The lawyer explained that NISEC had promised that the materials would be ready over the weekend. But when the candidate and his Lawyer visited the NISEC office on November 15, they met only the secretary, who said he had no instruction to release any documents.
All other senior officials were reportedly absent.
Both the lawyer and the candidate expressed disappointment, stressing that during a post-election period, the commission’s office should be fully active and accessible to the public.
They also noted that time is running out, as they have only 21 days after the election to submit their petition.
They now plan to approach the court to compel NISEC to release the documents, even though they believe such a step should not be necessary. The candidate further alleged that “there was no real election,” which he believes may be the reason for the delays.
He added that they had gone to the office with the intention of inspecting the materials, but no official was available to attend to them. He stressed that time is crucial in election petition matters and accused NISEC of deliberately delaying the process, warning that once the filing window closes, it cannot be extended.
The team said they would head to the tribunal immediately to avoid losing their right to challenge the election outcome.
As of the time of filing this report, NISIEC officials had not responded to calls seeking their comments.
