Elections in nine wards of Kogi State’s Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area have been suspended by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a statement released on Saturday, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, the National Commissioner of INEC and a member of the Information and Voter Education Committee, confirmed the suspension and said it was brought about by “electoral malpractices, particularly the incident of result sheets completed before voting,”and declared that it will look into the incidents and identify anyone “who may have been complicit in undermining the process”.
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This is entirely unacceptable. He continued, “Any result not emanating from the Commission’s process in the Polling Units will not be accepted.”
“The Commission is determined not to reward bad behaviour. Consequently, the election in the nine Wards in Ogori/Magongo LGA (Eni, Okibo, Okesi, Ileteju, Aiyeromi, Ugugu, Obinoyin, Obatgben and Oturu) is at this moment suspended.
“The incidences in the other Local Government Areas are being thoroughly investigated, and the outcome, including the way forward, will be announced in the next 24 hours.”
“We have a record of all officials deployed at various levels as supervisors, monitors, technical staff, or polling unit officials and all election materials issued to them. Appropriate sanctions will be applied where necessary.”
The Commission guarantees Kogi State voters that their wishes will be honoured and their votes will be safeguarded.
