Senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kogi West, Senator Dino Melaye on Wednesday stormed the national headquarter of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) with a fresh petition.
The Commission had declared as inconclusive the election of the November 16 Kogi West Senatorial District because the margin of win was less than the total cancelled votes.
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Smart Adeyemi had scored a total of 80,118 votes while his rival and Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Senator Dino Melaye, scored 59,548 votes.
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Senator Melaye last week submitted a petition demanding for the entire cancellation of the election, as against rerun in certain local councils.
But the Commission last Thursday disclosed that it has picked November 30 for the fresh supplementary poll.
Senator Melaye in his fresh petition submitted to INEC National Commissioner, (Legal)Â May Agbamuche, he argued that since the Commission has made up its mind to conduct the supplementary poll, certain areas in the local government areas which he claimed were being shut out should be accommodated.
Some of the areas he mentioned in his fresh petition were in Lokoja, Ijumu, Kogi local government areas and Kabba- Bunu local government where he claimed ballot boxes were snatched but results recorded in favour of his rival and All Progressives Congress candidate, Smart Adeyemi.
The prayer in his fresh petition read in part:” The re-run notice issued by INEC covering the entire 7 Local Government Areas in Kogi West Senatorial District, as well as the details contained in this petition further amplify the pervasiveness of the malpractices and irregularities that marred the conduct of the November 16, 2019 election. These also justify my earlier demand for the cancellation of the entire process.
”If however, the Commission ignores the overwhelming flaws in the entire process and insists on conducting the supplementary (partial) election, due cognisance should be taken of the fact that the integrity of the figures that formed the basis of the re-run is questionable, untenable and unacceptable.
”However, in order to partially remedy this fundamental flaw, I request for the inclusion of the omitted areas earlier highlighted in the supplementary .”
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