The Kogi State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly contested the outcome of the governorship election held on November 11, 2023, asserting that the result, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), cannot be accepted due to numerous irregularities.
Rt. Hon. George Daika, the Secretary of the Kogi State PDP, addressed the media in Abuja, listing several irregularities that marred the electoral process.
Among these were falsification of results, instances of over-voting, substantial noncompliance with electoral laws, and reported cases of bribery, all of which cast doubt on the credibility of the election.
Daika highlighted pre-election concerns raised by the PDP regarding plans to manipulate the election, alleging the use of preloaded BVAS in certain areas and the distribution of NYSC and Police uniforms to civilians to influence the outcome in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He pointed to alarming incidents where election results surfaced before polling units opened, with some INEC agents found possessing pre-written election results.
Daika further claimed evidence of over-voting in 17 out of 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state, accompanied by discrepancies between the total votes cast and the number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collected.
The PDP secretary also accused INEC officials of being found in possession of large sums of money during the election process, alleging a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member was seen with one million naira purportedly provided by APC agents for election manipulation.
Daika asserted that the election’s collation process was disorderly and unreliable, claiming that result sheets were altered, inflated, and pre-recorded before voting concluded.
His words:
“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 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 overvoting 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.”
Conclusively, he declared the PDP’s rejection of the election results and the declaration of Usman Ahmed Ododo as the winner, emphasizing the party’s determination to challenge the outcome legally to reclaim the people’s mandate in Kogi State.
