Labour Party, PDP fume as APC wins Kogi and Imo governorship elections, Bayelsa result delayed

Addressing journalists at his Umulomo country home in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of the state on Sunday, he alleged that the election was “marred by irregularities, including vote-buying and physical assaults of LP agents, and thus deserving of outright cancellation.”

He further alleged that voting in many locations was done without the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System accreditation, contrary to the assurances by INEC before the election.

Achonu also alleged compromise on the part of the security personnel, adding that “recorded evidence abound such as that of a police officer who voters beat for attempting to snatch a ballot box.”

He commended the LP supporters for their steadfastness in the face of provocation and assured them that they would get justice at the courts.

Similarly, Kogi State chapter of the SDP called for the cancellation of the results in Okene, Okehi, Ogori Magongo, Adavi, and Ajaokuta LGs, as well as in some parts of Lokoja alleging corrupt practices, vote-buying and over-voting.

The party’s collation agent, David Edibu, submitted a petition to the State Returning Officer, Prof. Johnson Urame, who assured him the petition would be reviewed.

Corroborating Edibu, the PDP agent at the collation centre, Abubakar Mahmood, submitted that the incidences of malpractices in the said LGA were alarming.

In the same vein, the PDP standard bearer in Kogi State, Dino Melaye, has called on the electoral commission to cancel the off-cycle election in the state.

Melaye, who spoke at a press conference on Sunday in Lokoja, the state capital, alleged that result sheets were manipulated before the commencement of the accreditation of voters on Saturday.

“Yesterday, there was no election in the five local governments of the central senatorial district in Kogi state. In the end, surprisingly, accreditation was done manually, the BVAS was not used,” Melaye said.

However, the APC has called on INEC to disregard calls for the cancellation of the election and should instead protect the integrity of the votes in the state.

The APC Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said the party’s candidate, Ododo, was already “coasting to a spectacular victory.”

In a statement on Sunday, Morka said the announced and uploaded results so far showed Ododo “maintaining a landslide lead in Kogi West and Central, with a competitive showing in Kogi East.”