Senator Dino Melaye Urges INEC to Review Kogi Election within 7 Days

• Dino Melaye gives INEC a seven-day ultimatum to review the Kogi governorship election, alleging mutilation, over-voting, and voter suppression
• Melaye insists on the annulment of the election in five Kogi local government areas, claiming coordination and fraud by INEC

Senator Dino Melaye, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State, has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a seven-day ultimatum to review the Kogi State governorship election. This statement was made during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.

Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner by INEC on Sunday, polling 446,237 votes, while Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) polled 259,052 votes.

During the interview, Melaye alleged cases of mutilation, over-voting, and voter suppression in the election. He claimed that the declaration of the winner was based on mutilated results, asserting that some local government results were prepared before the election.

Melaye stated, “Seventeen local governments in Kogi State have overvoting. We have submitted our petitions to INEC with evidence this afternoon. Our next line of action is that INEC has seven days to review petitions. We are going to see what they will do. In a just society, silence is a crime.”

He further insisted that INEC must annul the election in five local government areas of the state, emphasizing that the elections in Okene, Okehi, Ajaoukuta, Adavi, and Ogori/Mangogo were coordinated from the highest level of INEC and deemed fraudulent.

Gov Diri wins Bayelsa guber

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Douye Diri, as the winner of the Bayelsa State governorship election held on Saturday, November 11.

The state’s Returning Officer of the commission, Prof. Faruq Kuta announced Diri after receiving the final result from Southern Ijaw out of eight Local Government Area of the state.

While the PDP candidate scored 175, 196 votes, the APC candidate, Sylva got 110, 108, giving the incumbent an edge of 65, 088 votes to secure his second tenure in office.

The incumbent Governor Diri won the election in six of the eight LGAs of the state, while his closest challenger and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, won only two of the LGAs.