Murtala Ajaka, the Social Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Kogi State, expressed dismay over alleged irregularities and rigging in the recently concluded election.
Despite concerns, he stated that challenging the results in court would be futile, citing a lack of confidence in the electoral process.
Speaking on Channels TV’s “The 2023 Verdict: Off-Cycle Elections,” Ajaka accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of collaborating with the incumbent governor, Yahaya Bello, to manipulate the election results.
He highlighted a lack of proper voting in five local governments within the central senatorial district, emphasizing that results were merely recorded without a genuine electoral process.
“What am I going to court to do when the same INEC that did this is going to come as a witness to defend what they did? So it is a waste of time,” he said.
Furthermore, Ajaka raised suspicions about the credibility of the vote count in Okene Local Government Area, where he claimed over 130,000 votes were cast, surpassing the accredited voters recorded on the Biometric Verification and Authentication System (BVAS).
He said:
“If the INEC chairman allows this to stand, they are looking for trouble in Nigeria,” he said. “You gave me assurance that the election would be transparent, you allowed me to waste my time, spend my money, mobilise my people, only for you to write the results. Even if I’m not sad about it, you expect my supporters to be happy. I assure you if they allow this to stand as they are allowing in all the states now, they are calling for anarchy in this country.”
Despite these allegations, the returning officer, Johnson Urama, declared Mr. Ododo of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner, securing 446,237 votes across 13 local government areas.
Ajaka secured second place with 259,052 votes, winning in eight local governments.