INEC cancels the results of 63 polling units in Kogi which were plagued by thuggery and failed BVAS during Saturday’s elections.
Among the affected Local Government Areas (LGAs) were Okehi, Umala, Ulama-Boro, and Ibaji. Okehi LGA was hit the hardest, as the State Government had recently dug up some of its roads to prevent criminal activity in the area. During the collation of results at the Kogi Collation Centre, Dr. Emeka Oguju, the Okehi Collation Officer, revealed that the results of 31 polling units across four wards were cancelled due to thuggery, with political thugs stealing voting materials and carting away ballot boxes, resulting in the cancellation of 12,037 votes. “In most affected polling units, there was violence caused by political thugs, who invaded the units and disrupted the entire process,” he lamented. Dr. L. Adang, the Collation Officer for Umala Local Government Area, also reported to the State Collation Officer at the Situation Room at INEC State Office that 16 wards were impacted by thuggery. As a result, 9,558 votes in the affected polling units had to be cancelled. Similarly, Dr. Adamu Wakili, the Collation Officer for Olama-Boro LGA, revealed during his results presentation that 3,582 votes in five polling units had to be cancelled due to thuggery and non-functional BVAS. “Aside from the activities of political thugs that affected the election in our area, we had an issue with one BVAS which couldn’t function because of the remoteness of the community it was taken to. “We tried to see whether it could work, but we couldn’t and only five units in that community were affected. We have reported that to the REC,” he said. Additionally, Prof. Dauda Tanko, the Collation Officer for Ibaji Local Government Area, reported that due to incidents of thuggery, the results of 11 polling units in the region were cancelled. Tanko did not disclose the exact number of votes impacted by the cancellations but indicated that the activities of political thugs affected four Registration Areas.
