According to the development, the results of the November 11, 2023, governorship election won’t be known until the following week, following the local elections in the impacted districts.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there will be new polls in 59 polling places within the state’s Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area.
The election umpire has declared that a new election will take place on Saturday, November 18, 2023.
This was revealed in a statement on Sunday night by Mohammed Haruna, the national commissioner for INEC.
As of Sunday night, the election results from 18 of Kogi State’s 21 local government units had already been tallied.
As of right now, the following LGAs have released their results: Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ankpa, Bassa, Dekina, Idah, Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu, Kogi, Mopa-Muro, Olamaboro, Ofu, Okehi, Omala, Ogori/Magongo, Okene, and Yagba East and Yagba West.
The University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), Prof. Johnson Urama, the State Returning Officer, is anticipating the results of the Lokoja, Ibaji, and Igalamela-Odolu Local Government Areas.
Thus far, there is a close contest between Usman Ododo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Murtala Ajaka, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Leke Abejide of the African Democratic Party (ADC) and Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are two more formidable candidates in the race, in addition to Ajaka and Ododo, who served as Governor Yahaya Bello’s former Auditor General of Local Government in Kogi.
Melaye had alerted the authorities on Saturday of “filled result sheets” in the North Central state’s Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area. In addition, the PDP candidate demanded that the exercise be stopped due to violence and vote-buying. Following that, INEC halted voting in nine local government area wards.
INEC said in a statement on Sunday that it has heard from Kogi on the suspension of elections in certain areas of the state where result sheets had been finished before the polls opened.
The statement further stated that “the most critical incident occurred in nine out of ten Wards in Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area (LGA)”.
“In Adavi (5 Polling Units in Okunchi/Ozuri/Onieka Ward), Ajaokuta (5 Polling Units in Adogo Ward), Okehi (1 Polling Unit in Eika/Ohizenyi Ward), and Okene (5 Polling Units in Obehira Uvete Ward), we got reports of similar and other instances. Form EC40G for each of the four LGAs accounts for the results obtained from the impacted Polling Units.
But in the instance of Ogori/Magongo LGA, only Oshobane Ward II’s results—which comprised eight Polling Units and 2,264 registered voters—have been tallied. 15,136 registered voters and 59 Polling Units are involved in the nine Ward elections (Eni, Okibo, Okesi, Ileteju, Aiyeromi, Ugugu, Obinoyin, Obatgben, and Oturu), which are still pending.
“A new election will be held on Saturday, November 18, 2023, in the affected Polling Units, in accordance with Section 24(3) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Clause 59 of INEC Regulations and Guidelines on the Conduct of Elections 2022.”
According to INEC, the returning officer’s assessment on how the Margin of Lead Principle should be used would determine whether or not new elections are called for. This decision, however, does not change our steadfast pledge to investigate the personnel and material audit trail in order to identify any individuals who may have participated in the process’s undermining and, if required, to impose the proper punishments.
Voters in Kogi were reassured by the Commission that their votes would remain valid.
Similar to Kogi, governorship elections were held on Saturday in Bayelsa and Imo states. Governor Hope Uzodimma of the APC defeated 15 rivals, including Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP and Nneji Achonu of the Labour Party (LP). With 540, 308 votes, Uzodimma defeated his nearest competitors, Anyanwu of the PDP (71,503) and Achonu of the LP (64,081).
