Dino Melaye and Muritala Ajaka, the governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party in Kogi State, have declined to accept Usman Ododo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, as the election’s victor.
Melaye and a few civil rights organisations had expressed concern on Saturday regarding “filled result sheets” in the North Central state’s Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area. In addition, the PDP candidate demanded that the exercise be stopped due to violence and vote-buying. Following that, nine wards in the local government area had their elections suspended by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Usman Ododo, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the Kogi State gubernatorial election, was proclaimed the poll’s winner on Sunday.
With a total of 446,238 votes, Ododo trounced competitors Ajaka and Melaye, who garnered 259,052 and 46,262 votes, respectively, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s announcement on Sunday.
READ ALSO: Kogi Gov Election: Ododo Overcomes Melaye, Ajaka
Melaye, however, has demanded that the poll be called off because of “irregularities that marred the election.” He called the exercise “shameful and unhealthy,” lamenting the fact that INEC has not learned from its mistakes and taken steps to address and mitigate the harm it caused to the nation’s democratic process during the general elections.
Melaye declared: “There was no election yesterday (Saturday) in the five local governments of Kogi State’s Central Senatorial District. Remarkably, the BVAS was not used, accreditation was completed manually, prepared result sheets appeared before accreditation, and there is ample media coverage of the proof.
”The INEC, as a matter of urgency, must cancel the election. In many areas where I won, my agents were told there were no available result sheets to enter the result and we have evidence to back up these claims
“As I speak to you, it is shameful that this is what our democracy has descended to. INEC has manifested ever than before, that it cannot be trusted, it is biased, it is compromised and it cannot be a neutral umpire.”
Likewise, Ajaka disapproved of the poll’s results, citing violations of election laws, in a statement released by his media assistant, Faruk Adejoh-Audu.
In a nutshell, the statement said, “The Independent National Electoral Commission is proceeding quickly with the announcement of the results of an election it has previously and voluntarily declared as dubious and compromised in Kogi State, against all logic, laws, and decency.”
“The 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, is entitled to protest.
