We are ready for Kogi West/Ajaokuta re-run elections – INEC

Prof. James Apam, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kogi, says the commission is ready for Kogi West Senatorial and Ajaokuta Federal Constituency supplementary elections slated for Saturday.

Apam, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Lokoja at a Stakeholders’ meeting organised by INEC for the two Supplementary Elections said funding and logistics for the elections had been provided.

He said the election would be conducted in 20 Registration Areas consisting of 53 Polling Units with a total of 45,767 Registered Voters in the seven local government areas of Kogi West Senatorial Districts.

He said polls in the 53 units in the Nov. 16 polls were cancelled, adding that Ijumu Local Government had three affected Registration Areas (RAs) and Kabba-Bunu, six. Kogi (KK) and Mopa-Muro, had two each.

Others are: Kogi (KK) and Mopa-Muro with two affected RAs each; Lokoja and Yagba East have three affected RAs each;while Yagba West has one.

INEC, he said, would also conduct election re-runs in 10 Registration Areas in the affected 22 Polling Units with 15,438 Registered Voters in Ajaokuta Federal Constituency.

Apam said the Kogi West Senatorial Supplementary election would be handled by 408 Polling Officers and seven Collation Officers insisting that the commission would still use University lecturers for the collation.

It was reported that stakeholders who spoke at the meeting pleaded with INEC and the security agencies to live above board in the discharge of their duties to avert the electoral fraud

Rev. Samuel Owolabi, Director, National Issues, Christian Association Nigeria (CAN), condemned in its entirety, the rate of violence, intimidation, gunshots, ballot box snatching and vote buying that allegedly characterised the Nov. 16 governorship election in Kogi.

The clergy who went on his knees to plead with INEC and security agencies to turn a new leave and conduct acceptable, credible, free and fair rerun said, “As it is now people are demoralised to come out to vote because of fear of being killed”.

“They no longer have confidence in INEC and Security operatives. What we witnessed during the just concluded governorship election was civil war.”

Also speaking, Alhaji Issa Adeboye, Secretary, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), admonished INEC and the police to be fair in the rerun election to avoid a recurrence of the violence that greeted the Nov. 16 governorship election.