The Kogi State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the results of the August 16 bye-election for the Okura State Constituency seat in Dekina Local Government Area, describing the exercise as a “sham” and a “travesty of democracy.”
In a statement issued on Sunday, the party alleged that no election was conducted in over 98% of polling units across the constituency. Instead, according to the PDP, electoral materials were hijacked in the early hours of election day by officials of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), aided by security operatives, armed thugs, and some Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials.
“Our candidate, Hon. Meliga Godwin, confronted INEC officials and was told that the Commission had no security of its own to remedy the situation. Shockingly, despite these irregularities and open admissions by its officials, INEC went ahead to announce fraudulent results,” the statement read.
The PDP questioned how INEC declared 55,073 votes for the APC and just 1,038 for the PDP, despite what it described as a near absence of voting. The party noted that in the 2023 general election, APC secured 8,549 votes while PDP had 1,487—figures it said, though disputed, were still within “plausible limits.”
“This statistical impossibility exposes the scale of manipulation,” the party insisted, adding that INEC’s figures contradicted its own Resident Electoral Commissioner’s admission on AIT News that there was “low voter turnout.”
The PDP condemned the process as unconstitutional and a gross violation of the Electoral Act 2022, demanding immediate cancellation of the results and the conduct of a fresh, credible election.
“We exercised restraint not out of weakness, but because democracy must not come at the cost of citizens’ lives. However, democracy cannot survive where electoral robbery is endorsed by the very institution meant to protect it,” the statement added.
The party further called on INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to urgently intervene and restore public confidence in the electoral system. It vowed to pursue the matter through peaceful and lawful means until justice is achieved.
