Kogiflame
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of declaring already concluded Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency, House of Representatives election inconclusive.
Acting Kogi State Chairman of the party, Comrade Adaji John, who made this known while addressing newsmen, said the party’s candidate, Arc. Salman Idris, won the election.
Speaking at a press conference in Lokoja, Adaji said the INEC returning officer, Dr. Baba Adamu, signed the final results sheet and handed over the document to all party agents at the federal constituency collation centre in Kabba.
He wondered when a concluded election, with signed and stamped results, was declared inconclusive.
He called on the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to order the returning officer of Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency, Dr. Baba Adamu to declare the candidate of the party winner of the election.
Adaji, who equally accused the INEC returning of absconding after signing the election results, noted that the electoral body is yet to officially communicate to the party that the election is inconclusive.
The acting Chairman, however, acknowledged that there were cancellations in some polling units due to over voting in the exercise.
He said their candidate ought to have been officially declared winner of the election because he scored the highest votes in the election.
The ADC Acting Chairman said any attempt to subvert the will of the people will be resisted by all legal means possible.
“The reason they provided was that there was over voting, except one polling unit were violence occurred. If you look at section 51 of the electoral act, if the election is cancelled, it remains cancelled. Now the same unit that were cancelled, were also reflected in the declaration of the presidential result.
“I happened to be a state collation officer, one of the returning officer for the Presidential election in Ijumu also acknowledged that this wards were canceled, but the result was declared.
”It is not the responsibility of the returning officer to halt the declaration of results on the ground of cancellation, it is the responsibility of the presiding officer in the polling units. The decision for him to abscond, or carry out his duties accordingly, is something we are yet to know.
”We call on the Chairman of INEC to do the needful by declaring our candidate winner of Kabba/Ijumu Federal Constituency election in Kogi State. By doing so would be in conformity with the Electoral Act as well as averting crisis in the area,” he said.
However in a swift reaction, the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, (APC), Prince Mathew Kolawole said the ADC is circulating fake result for Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency.
Kolawole refuted the claim by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) that INEC issued duly signed result sheet for Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu constituency.
“Result were cancelled in two other polling units due to over voting which were not collated by INEC in line with the electoral act, and everybody agreed to it.
“But the results cancelled in Otu Polling unit and Egbeda- Egga polling units was due to violence at the poll.
“We have video evidences of when the electoral umpire declared the result inconclusive. I wonder why the same body who earlier declared election inconclusive will later issue a signed result as been circulated by ADC. That shows that the ADC are circulating fake result,” he said.
He urged the ADC to approach the INEC to argue their case rather than heating up the polity with their fake results.
He expressed optimism that he will win the supplementary election as those places cancelled due to violence were his strongholds.
The result of the Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu House of Representatives election was on Sunday declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Returning Officer, Dr. Adams Baba, made the declaration at collation centre in Kabba.
Baba said the declaration was due to the difference between the margin of winners and cancelation of results in two polling units of the federal constituency.
The returning officer said the difference of the results between the winner, Arch Salman Idris of African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Kolawole Matthew, was not up to the number of registered voters in the canceled polling units.
