SDP candidate, Murtala Ajaka, demands suspension of result declaration

Murtala Ajaka, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop further announcement of the results of the election pending the conclusion of its promised investigation into the irregularities recorded during the exercise.

Mr Ajaka made the call in a statement by his campaign spokesperson, Faruk Adejoh-Audu, on Sunday.

INEC has declared the results of the election from 20 out of the 27 local government areas of the state.

The APC candidate, Ahmed Ododo, has so far garnered 424,678 votes, while the SDP candidate polled 221,245 votes.

On Saturday, the commission cancelled the election in nine out of the 10 wards in Ogori Magongo LGA after it was discovered that the results sheets from them were already filled before accreditation began.

INEC, however, went ahead to collate and announce the result from the council without resolving the issue.

Mr Adejoh-Audu said the federal government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did its best to guarantee a level playing ground by averting almost, totally, the security threat to the electorate openly orchestrated by the state Governor Yahaya Bello but that INEC has totally thrown the people of the state into mourning by its conduct.

“In this regard, we are calling on INEC to immediately cease announcing the results forthwith until it has cancelled these areas that its criminal staff colluded to rig the votes in favour of one candidate as exposed by IReV.

“The ongoing tragedy at the commission’s office in Lokoja called collation and announcement of results must be disbanded immediately until credibility is restored to the process.

“We earnestly pray that INEC which should be the guard of our democracy, will not ultimately be the reason our citizens lose faith in the best form of government the world has ever known,” the statement said.

Earlier Petition

The SDP collation agent, David Ehimoni, had earlier on Sunday submitted a petition to the effect that INEC’s acknowledgement of the irregularities, especially in Ogori Magongo, and other LGAs in the Central senatorial district, was enough reason to suspend the announcement of the results from those areas.

He said it was a contradiction for INEC to intervene the way it did, and still continue to accept results from the same polling units where those irregularities were observed.

But INEC issued a statement, saying that the suspension of elections in Ogori Magongo and the suggested repeat of elections in the local government area were at the discretion of the returning officer in applying the principle of the margin of lead, which the APC currently enjoys going by the results declared so far.

The Returning Officer for the election, Johnson Urama, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in his response to the SDP’s petition, said INEC would respond appropriately to the party’s petition, but the collation and declaration of result would continue.

Mr Ehimoni continued to press for the cessation of the result declaration but met with opposition from the APC and the INEC officials.

The APC’s margin of lead ahead of the SDP is 203,433. The figure far exceeds the total number of votes cancelled in Ogori Magongo, which stands at 15,424 (which is the number of those who have collected PVCs in the areas).

Read the full text of the statement by the SDP campaign spokesperson

“Against all logic, law and decency the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is hurriedly progressing with the announcement of the results of an election it has hitherto and voluntarily declared as dubious and compromised in Kogi State.

“INEC has suddenly turned ostrich to pretend that the malpractices it uncovered can just be ignored and nobody, not even the victims of the electoral heist are entitled to protest.

“Yesterday, Saturday, November 11, 2023 evening of election day INEC announced the cancellation of polls in Ogori-Magongo after conceding that the process had been undermined. The election umpire also suspended the results emerging from Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi and Okene LGAs because these results already uploaded on I-rev clearly indicated an outrageous disparity between accredited voters and the votes obviously allocated.

“The Commission said it was going to investigate the results and warned that any results extraneous to the process would not be acceptable.

“We have repeatedly declared our confidence in the ability of INEC to conduct a credible poll and in line with this belief we waited for the outcome of the commission’s investigation.

“But very much less than the 24 hours that it voluntarily undertook to probe the dubious process in the LGAs stated, the Returning Officer of the election, Professor Johnson Urama suddenly assembled agents, media and officials at the INEC Office in Lokoja and began announcing results in such a rush that any discerning observer will agree that INEC is bent on foisting a fait accompli on the candidates of the election by executing a predetermined agenda to announced as the winner, the APC candidate, Mr.Usman Ododo who clearly lost this election, with all the facts and figures at our disposal.

“We are shocked that INEC can so brazenly betray whatever little trust and confidence Nigerians still reserve for it after a series of scandals bordering on electoral heists and broad daylight robbery of the wishes of the people.

“How on earth can a commission that is legally empowered to cancel results proven to have emerged from overvoting eagerly rush to embrace and reward what is an electoral crime?

“It is clear on I-rev that the total results of 268,390 emerging from Adavi, Okehi and Okene are clearly above the total number of BVAs accreditation which stands at 94, 233! The votes here were obviously almost doubled.

“The votes here were obviously almost doubled. Same sloppy heist happened in Ajaokuta and part of Bassa LGA. INEC has the record. The whole world is also privy to this record.

“The Federal Government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did its best to guarantee a level playing ground by averting almost, totally, the security threat to the electorate openly orchestrated by the state Governor Mr Yahaya Bello but INEC has totally thrown the people of Kogi State into mourning by its conduct.

In this regard, we are calling on INEC to immediately cease announcing the results forthwith until it has cancelled these areas that its criminal staff collude to rig the votes in favour of one candidate as exposed by I-rev.

“The ongoing tragedy at the commission’s office in Lokoja called collation and announcement of results must be disbanded immediately until credibility is restored to the process.

“We earnestly pray that INEC which should be the guard of our democracy, will not ultimately be the reason our citizens lose faith in the best form of government the world has ever known.”