The candidate of the Social Democratic Party, in the ongoing governorship election in Kogi State, Mr Muritala Ajaka, has raised concerns about missing result sheets at collation centers in the Ogori Magongo area.
Muritala, in a statement through his media aide, Mr Faruk Adejoh-Audu stated that the situation suggested the presence of electoral malpractices within the ongoing election.
He said that his agents across different parts of the state had informed him about the alleged electoral malpractices occurring in the election.
Ajaka said, “Our agents who went to a few ward collation centers in the early hours of this morning to inspect materials before accepting to take them to polling units discovered that no result sheets were available for any of the units or ward collation centers.
“In Olamaboro Ward 5 where agents of all parties escorted the Supervisory Presiding Officers, Presiding Officers, and other INEC staff with security to the ward headquarters in Inele-Ugo last night, they went back to commence deployment of the materials to the polling units this morning and discovered that the entire INEC staff, materials and the security personnel have all disappeared from the Roman Catholic Mission Primary School where they left them.”
The candidate further alleged that an APC Council Chairman was apprehended by security agents with a group of individuals carrying substantial amounts of cash in the early hours of Saturday. Although initially detained, the chairman was later released.
“These developments signpost reports of outrageous malpractices and manipulations that are already emerging from several areas across the state.
“Our situation room is also inundated with reports of INEC IT staff and some ward collation officers camped in three Lokoja hotels overnight to manipulate BVAS Machines and pre-fill result sheets of Lokoja, Ajaokuta and Kogi LGAs.
“There are reports of thugs riding on motorbikes to evade the checkpoints of soldiers to attack remote polling units in Dekina, Ofu, Olamaboro, Bassa, and Ankpa LGA.
“We are immediately drawing the attention of the INEC National Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, the Returning Officer for Kogi State, Election observers, local and international, and head of security agencies to these outrageous electoral breeches and demanding that the commission keeps to its vow to reject results from areas that have been compromised by violence, malpractice or manipulations,” he stated.
Kanyi Daily recalls that Douye Diri of Bayelsa State had praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the significant improvements in the handling of the ongoing governorship election in the state.
