The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate Wednesday rejected the outcome of Kogi and Bayelsa state governorship elections held last weekend as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It also expressed worries over the spate of killings associated with the polls and asked the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to fish out the killers of PDP women leader in Kogi state, Acheju Abu.
Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, told newsmen that “we totally reject the pronouncement made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and we are worried about the trend of what happened in those elections.
His words: “For INEC, all we have seen is a steady decline in the efficacy of our elections.
We do not know where they got the figures they declared in Kogi and Bayelsa. We are in touch with our members in the various states and they have told us that the results did not reflect the voting pattern at the polling booths. We are totally resolved to confront what is going on in our electoral system.”
According to him, the outright intimidation and killings of Nigerians during the elections is very worrisome “and we know that those results were not a true reflection of what happened in the field”.
He added that “we are concerned that all the gains made by the PDP since 1999 seems to have been eroded by elections starting in Edo, Osun, Ekiti, and recently Bayelsa and Kogi seems to have been lost.
“We are also worried about the killing of a Woman Leader in Kogi even after results had been announced and winners declared.
Senator Abaribe therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to immediately fish out the killer of the PDP women leader, Mrs Acheju Abu, whose only offence is that she is a member of the opposition party.
“What it tells us is that all of us who are members of the opposition are not safe. We hear that the police are launching an investigation, but it must not be swept under the carpet.”
He added that the PDP candidate in the inconclusive senatorial election in Kogi West, Senator Dino Melaye, told him that his (Melaye’s) cousin also lost his life during the election.
“If we leave the matter to continue to stay this way we don’t know what will happen in 2023,” Abaribe lamented.
He added that “we are concerned that all the gains made by the PDP since 1999 seems to have been eroded by elections starting in Edo, Osun, Ekiti, and recently Bayelsa and Kogi seems to have been lost.
“We are also worried about the killing of a Woman Leader in Kogi even after results had been announced and winners declared.
Senator Abaribe therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to immediately fish out the killer of the PDP women leader, Mrs Acheju Abu, whose only offence is that she is a member of the opposition party.
“What it tells us is that all of us who are members of the opposition are not safe. We hear that the police are launching an investigation, but it must not be swept under the carpet.”
He added that the PDP candidate in the inconclusive senatorial election in Kogi West, Senator Dino Melaye, told him that his (Melaye’s) cousin also lost his life during the election.
“If we leave the matter to continue to stay this way we don’t know what will happen in 2023,” Abaribe lamented.
