From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
As the official declaration results of the Saturday Local Government Councils’ Elections continue to elicit reactions across Kogi state, the chairmanship candidate of the Social Democratic Party SDP for Ajaokuta Local Government Council, Hon Siyaka Abdulrahaman has described the election as a rape of democracy and has vowed to seek legal means for redress.
The SDP Candidate while speaking to Journalists from the sidelines after the official declaration of the results in Lokoja on Sunday, lamented at the election , stressing that the election does not comply with the minimum standard as electoral Officers and voting materials were not deployed to polling units in his local Government Area .
He said he was at his polling unit as early as 8.00am and was there through out the allotted time of voting without sighting election officers and voting materials adding that all his agents reported the sad scenario in all the polling units across the Local Government Area.
Honourable Abdulrahaman wondered why an election that materials and officials were not sighted near any voting unit would ascribed results to the candidates, insisting that no election took place , hence his resolve to seek redress in competent court of jurisdiction.
According to him” I was in my polling unit as early as 8.00am and up till 4.00pm I couldn’t find even one electoral Officer, and voting materials. The few security personnel I saw were as confused as I was.
” How can a ruling party will be afraid of election to a point that they will hijack both officials and materials and took them to illegal destinations and then come up with concocted results.
” I have rejected the results of my LGA in its entirety and I’m determined to confront them at the law Court. I urge all lovers of Democracy to stand up to rescue the state from the agents of anti Democratic forces already in the state.
” As for me and my party SDP , it is no retreat no surrender to ensure that democracy is returned back to the people , so that they can freely choose their representatives at all levels.” He vowed.
While commending the people for their desire to vote for candidates of their choice , before the election was bungled, called for concerted efforts to say no to injustice and election malfeasance that is about to come to stay in Kogi.
The All Progressives Congress won all the 21 Chairmanship and 239 Councillorship seats i at the Saturday’s Elections held across state.
Announcing the results at the headquarters of Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission , Lokoja, the State Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Mamman Nda Eri, said the APC won all the contestable positions .
The Chairman commended the people of the state for their orderly conduct, the security agencies for making the election successful.
However, the strongest opposition Party (PDP) had earlier faulted the process of the election describing the conduct as a mockery of the nation’s nascent democracy.
