The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Tuesday, reacted to the allegation that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, had offered its Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa State, Kashim Gaidam, $1m and a house in Dubai.
INEC made the denial while reacting to a social media report which alleged that the former vice president had compromised the elections in the state.
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In its twitter handle, the commission condemned the post, saying, “The Adamawa INEC REC completely dissociates himself from the allegation that he had an offer of $1m and a house in Dubai as no offer whatsoever was ever made to him by anyone.”
Similarly, a statement signed and issued on Tuesday by the Head of INEC’s Voter Education department in the state, Rifkatu Duku, also refuted the allegation.
The statement said: “The REC is presently focused on efforts to deliver free, fair and credible elections and has no time for indulgence in distractions intended by the peddlers of the falsehood.”
“Nobody has offered us inducement and we are under nobody’s influence,” he asserted.
Performing the oath of neutrality on INEC staff in the state, the resident electoral commissioner said the staff is committed to free and fair elections without preference for any candidate.
“All INEC staff, permanent or adhoc engaged for the elections, shall carry out their functions in line with global best practices. We are only interested in delivering credible elections and not who wins or loses,” he said.
He apologized to Adamawa people over the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections and appealed to them not to be discouraged but to come out in large numbers to vote during the rescheduled election on Saturday.
