INEC declares elections inconclusive in Kogi East

The elections for Kogi East Senatorial District and Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency have been declared inconclusive due to widespread violence, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Monday.

Prof. Rotimi Ajayi, INEC Returning Officer for the senatorial election, who made the announcement at the collation centre in Idah, said that the elections did not hold in 129 polling units across the district.

Ajayi said that some polling unit elections were cancelled as he announced that scored APC: 113,772 votes; PDP,: 69,131 and ADC, 30,696 votes.

According to him, report from Bassa Local Government Area revealed that “a registration area with the name Mozum, which has 12 polling units refused to vote.”

Ajayi said that a new date for the re-run of the polls would be announced after necessary arrangements were made.

On Saturday, the elections did not hold in four units in Anyigba, Dekina Local Government, as gun wielding hoodlums invaded the polling units in Ajetachi, Etiaja, Abuja and CMML Primary School unit 005.

In Ajetachi a student of Kogi State University, Daniel Usman, on the queue to vote was gunned down by the hoodlums who operated from a Toyota Sienna bus as they invaded the polling unit.

In Igalamela-Odolu Local Government Area with 65,129 registered voters and 16,543 accredited, elections in four polling units were cancelled within Ofuloko which has 1,145 registered voters.

The local government also witnessed violent activities in Odolu town as suspected thugs, also in a Sienna bus, shot one Adebayo Adebunmi as they kidnapped Mr Friday Sani, the member representing Igalamela-Odolu constituency at the state House of Assembly.

In Bassa Local Government, out of 58,892 registered voters, 19,587 were accredited to vote: elections in nine polling units with 6,068 voters were cancelled while elections did not take place in some of the units.