Gov’ship elections: APC coasts to victory in Kogi, Bayelsa

…INEC to declare full results today

…Wada, Diri allege vote rigging

As apprehension continues to grip residents of Kogi and Bayelsa states on who will govern them in the next four years, the result so far announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows that candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the two states are coasting home to victory.

This is even as the Electoral umpire is set to announce final results for the two states today.

According to the result announced by INEC in Kogi State on Sunday, the incumbent Governor, Yahaya Bello, has won in 10 Local Government Areas, while the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Musa Wada won in 9 Local Government Areas.

Similarly, in Bayelsa State, out of the six local government announced by the INEC as at press time, APC candidate, David Lyon led with a win in 4 while PDP candidate, Diri Douye, won in two.

Two local government areas yet to be announced are Southern-Ijaw and Ekeremor.

Announcing the results by the Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, Vice-chancellor, University of Benin, said in Ogbia, that APC polled 58, 016 votes to beat PDP that got 13, 763 votes in the local government.

According to Orumwense, APC also won in Brass, Nembe and Yenagoa local government areas.

PDP led in Sagbama and Kolokumo/Opokuma local government areas.

Meanwhile, the Returning Officer for the election in Kogi State who doubles as the Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Professor Ibrahim Umar, announced the suspension of collation of results in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital on Sunday.

Professor Umar told party agents and other political stakeholders present at the INEC office where the collation of results took place that the exercise would continue by 9am today (Monday).

He explained that the announcement was necessary as the results of the election in the remaining two local governments have yet to be brought to the collation centre.

The announcement followed the collation of results of the election in 19 out of the 21 local government areas in Kogi State.

Those collated so far are Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ankpa, Bassa, Dekina, Idah, Igalamela-Odolu, Ijumu, and Kabba/Bunu LGAs.

Others are Koton Karfe, Mopa-Muro, Ofu, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi, Okene, Olamaboro, Omala, Yagba East, and Yagba West LGAs.

The local governments where results are expected are Ibaji and Lokoja LGAs.

The incumbent governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yahaya Bello, as well as the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), Musa Wada and Natasha Akpoti, are among the leading contenders in the election.

Of the results collated so far, it is a close battle between Bello who won 10 LGAs and Wada who claimed nine LGAs while Natasha has yet to win any local government area.

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The governor has so far polled 374,081 votes and taken the lead with over 200,000 votes as his PDP and SDP rivals scored 168,141 and 8,539 votes respectively.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Kogi State governorship election, Musa Wada has rejected results so far released by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the poll.

Addressing newsmen in Lokoja on Sunday, Wada said that the results were doctored to favour Governor Yahaya Bello of APC.

He alleged that the APC massively rigged the election in Kogi Central where the governor came from.

“The result is not a true reflection of what happened. The people of the state voted for PDP but APC changed the result to favour them.

“Results declared so far by INEC are written results and we can’t accept that.

“Every single result was changed and we are going to challenge the result. The election is not true reflection of what happened in the field,” Wada said.

He promised to challenge the results at the tribunal.

Also, the candidate of the PDP in Bayelsa, Senator Douye Diri, has alleged that the APC massively rigged the election in LGAs so far announced by INEC.

He said results so far announced does not reflect what took place at the polling units.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed security agencies for the security arrangements put in place for Saturday’s governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states.

The party claimed that several hoodlums were brought into Kogi State from Osun and Oyo states few days before the elections, while there was grand preparation to unleash violence in Bayelsa State.

The APC expressed delight that the hired thugs deployed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the election in both states, including the Kogi West Senatorial District re-run election were frustrated by security agencies.

“In Kogi and Bayelsa states, we were certain of securing the majority votes for the two governorship seats and the Kogi West senatorial seat. For this, we knew we must ensure a peaceful atmosphere for voters to freely turn out and exercise their franchise.

“As expected, not being in the tradition of PDP to thrive under orderly and credible electoral process, they did their best to discredit the process. We are glad that the voting processes came to a successful end in Kogi and Bayelsa states,” claimed the party in a statement by its spokesperson, Lanre Issa- Onilu.

The party thanked security agencies and other officials who did their best to minimize the impact of the PDP thugs whose sole agenda was to create chaos and scare voters from coming out to vote.

“We note the efforts by the PDP to employ their usual manipulation through ballot box snatching, massive thumb printing of ballot papers and vote buying.

We also note for instance the video now in circulation of self-help ballot paper thumb printing at the polling unit of the PDP governorship candidate, Musa Wada and vote buying by the PDP’s senatorial candidate, Dino Melaye.

“We thank all our supporters for standing their ground to protect the ballot and ensure credibility of the electoral process.

While we wait for the collation process to complete and for the final results to be announced, we urge our members in both states to remain calm and peaceful,” the party added.

But, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the fictitious votes being bandied from Okene and other areas to favour the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State.

The party demanded the immediate cancellation of such allocated results, particularly in Okene Local Government Area.

The party maintained that nobody can accept the provocative alteration of results from polling units as well as allocation of fictitious votes, particularly, the awarding of 112, 000 votes to APC in Okene.

The PDP in a statement on Sunday said the people of Kogi State have glaring evidence of alterations of figures to reduce the vote of the PDP and allocate imported figures to the APC.

The party therefore, cautioned INEC not to ever declare such mutilated results as they will not be accepted by the people.

“Our party hopes that this apparent move to allocate fictitious results to the APC has no bearing with the allegations in the public space that Governor Yahaya Bello and the APC have compromised highly placed INEC officials with huge sums of money to alter result in favour of the APC.

“The PDP therefore, cautions the INEC to note that any attempt to declare the figures being bandied for the APC will be a validation of the bribery allegation.

“The only way out is for INEC to cancel and drop the fictitious figures being bandied and declare only the results from votes cast and declared at the respective polling units,” said Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary of PDP in the statement.