INEC office invaded in Kogi as APC, SDP trade blame
The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lokoja, Kogi state capital on Wednesday came under a siege by a mob that took the intervention of the Nigerian Army to disperse.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Hale Gabriel Longpet, in a statement, said the INEC state headquarters in Lokoja was besieged Wednesday morning by a mob that barricaded all entrances to the office and prevented officials’ access to carry out their routine duties.
The siege also prevented Attorneys representing political parties involved in the recent off-cycle governorship elections from inspecting documents/materials used in the election.
The REC assured all the parties in the litigants that the state office of INEC is committed to granting unimpeded access to all materials to prosecute their petition.
Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have continued to trade words on who “sponsored” the mob that laid siege on the INEC office.
The SDP had alleged that thugs sponsored by the ruling party invaded the electoral umpire’s office to disrupt the ongoing examination of documents and materials used in the November 11 gubernatorial Elections.
The spokesman of Muri-Sam Governorship Campaign Council of the SDP, Faruk Adejoh-Audu said that the sponsored thugs wearing SDP T-shirts and posters have also been detailed to attack and sack the INEC office to ensure the materials needed for the party to prosecute its petition at the tribunal are compromised.
