Our agents were tied: SDP’s Natasha calls for cancellation

Natasha Akpoti

Natasha Akpoti- Uduaghan

Natasha Akpoti: calls for cancellation of election in affected polling units.

The Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in Kogi State, Natasha Akpoti, has called on Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) to cancel elections in Kogi Central and parts of Lokoja, the state capital.

In a statement released on Sunday, Akpoti lamented that “what happened in Kogi Central and other parts of the state was a far cry from a credible election”.

She added that, “Ballot boxes were destroyed and burnt in Okene, Adavi, Ajaokuta and Ogori Magongo and Okehi Local government areas and other parts of the state.

“Our agents were chased away from the various polling units of the Kogi Central Senatorial District.”

Akpoti said these incidents were enough to make INEC take drastic action.

She wants the Independent National Electoral Commission to cancel the elections in the affected areas and hold a rerun on.

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“I am therefore calling on you and in line with your powers as enshrined in the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended to cancel the election in Kogi Central Senatorial District and some part of Lokoja and order for a rerun,” she said.

Saturday’s election had been marked by reports of violence, thuggery, harassment and intimidation with INEC condemning those incidents.

The electoral umpire had, however, said in a statement on Saturday that most of those who wanted to vote got to do so.

For Akpoti and her party’s agents and supporters, it was a different story, according to her statement.

“In some polling units, our agents were tied with ropes by APC-led thugs,” she said.

She also alleged that gun-wielding thugs supporting the APC did not allow SDP agents in Okene to come near the polling units. These thugs, she added, told voters not to come and vote unless they were to vote only APC.

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