PDP rejects Kogi governorship election result, hints at going to court

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State has rejected to the outcome of the November 11 off-cycle governorship election, saying the result cannot stand.

The party also gave hint that it would take legal steps to reclaim what it said was its stolen mandate.

The party, in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, by its state Secretary, Rt. Hon. George Daika, said it rejected the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaring the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Usman Ododo as the winner because there were irregularities in the conduct of the election which included “falsification of results, bribery, over-voting and substantial noncompliance with electoral laws which marred the entire exercise.”

Daika said among others, there were series of unlawful acts which characterized the governorship election rendering the entire exercise unlawful, illegal, and illegitimate.

“As you are aware, prior to the date scheduled for the election, we had raised several concerns about plots to rig the gubernatorial election in Kogi state where we revealed that the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, had resolved to deploy already preloaded BVAS to some areas in Kogi State,” the statement said.

“We also hinted that the APC led government in Kogi State had distributed NYSC and police uniforms to civilians in order to perpetrate their evil plans rigging the election.

“Our fears were confirmed last Saturday when, before the governorship election commenced at the polling units, results of yet-to-be-held elections found their way to the public space.

“Some agents of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were also found with already written results of elections that were yet to be held.

“We, however, found it incredulous that the anomalies above notwithstanding, the state gubernatorial Returning Officer, after seeing clear evidence of over-voting and reports of electoral fraud, declared Usman Ahmed Ododo of the APC as elected with some conjured votes which is totally different from the number of accredited voters among other factors.

“There were cases of over-voting in 17 out of the 21 LGAs in the state. There is clear evidence to back this up.

“We have cases where the total number of votes were more than the total number of PVCS collected, yet, INEC claimed that they conducted credible elections. We had cases where huge sums of money were seen with INEC officials at the polling units.

“A National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member was seen with a cash of one million naira, which reports claimed to have been given to him by agents of the APC just for the sake of election manipulation.

“We are aware of INEC’s fraudulent means of doctoring and continuously inflating numbers just to favour APC.

“Figures were repeatedly changed, and result sheets were falsified, and in most places, result sheets were pre-recorded before the conclusion of the voting process.

“The system of collation of result, was totally untidy and unreliable.

“The PDP rejects the results as announced and the declaration of Usman Ahmed Ododo as the winner of the governorship elections of 11th November in our dear Kogi state by NEC.

“We sincerely thank our numerous supporters and the good people of Kogi State for the support they have given us and want to assure them that the PDP will not leave any stone unturned in the quest for re-claiming their mandate.

“We have commenced actions necessary and in accordance with the law with a view to arresting this glaring broad daylight robbery against the people of Kogi State and our governorship candidate, Sen. Dino Melaye, by the APC government and its collaborators.

“We have rejected the result as declared by INEC, and as a party, we would take all measures, within the ambit of the law, to reclaim the mandate of the people of Kogi State,” the PDP scribe said.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now