The residents of Magongo, a town in the Ogori-Magongo local government area of Kogi State, have staged a protest against the alleged manipulation of the governorship election results by the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The protesters claimed that they discovered pre-recorded results from some polling units in the local government area, where the APC was allocated 120 votes, while the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were given one vote each.
The results were written on the result sheets before the commencement of accreditation and voting.
The protesters gathered at the Magongo RAC centre, where the INEC officials and materials were stationed, and demanded that the pre-recorded results be cancelled and a free and fair election be conducted.
They described the attempt to rig the election as unacceptable and an insult to their democratic rights.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun an investigation into the pre-recorded election result sheets that surfaced in Kogi.
The results were sighted even before the voting process commenced for the governorship election commenced on Saturday.
The pre-recorded polling unit results in Okehi local government area of the state show they were won by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Newsflash Nigeria learned that those behind the pre-recorded result are offering other parties’ agents bribes to sign the document.
Newsflash Nigeria election observer at the local government learned that APC agents were offering voters money – between N10,000 and N20,000 depending on the negotiations – to vote for their party’s candidate, Usman Ododo.
Reacting to this, the electoral body in a short statement released on its X (formerly Twitter) handle, said it considered the situation as serious and asked their senior staff members to investigate the matter.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a report that filled result sheets were discovered in some polling units in Kogi State.
“The Commission views this situation seriously. Our senior officials deployed to the State are currently investigating the incident(s). The Commission will communicate its decision earnestly.”
