The leadership of Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives led by Hon Ndudi Elumelu, on Tuesday, rejected the outcome of last Saturday’s gubernatorial elections held in Bayelsa and Kogi States.
Hon Elumelu who gave the opposition parties’ position at a press briefing held after the plenary session, also condemned the spate of violence and killing of innocent citizens including the nephew of Senator Dino Melaye and  People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Woman Leader who was burnt to death in Kogi State.
While expressing his view on the recent call for the suspension of former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan over alleged anti-party activities, Hon Elumelu argued that the former President has not committed any offence since it has not been substantiated by any group, more so that the election was a secret ballot.
The Minority Leader stressed that Dr Jonathan’s role was in tandem with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution which guarantees freedom of association to every Nigerian citizen.
He argued that Dr Jonathan while in office “was the President of the entire country,” and “his legacy gave a bite to the world.”
Hon Elumelu had during the plenary session raised a Point of order to disassociate the Opposition Parties from the submission of Hon Leke Abejide who stated that the House was in total support of the outcome of Kogi gubernatorial election.
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He also pledged the caucus support for the ongoing plan by the leadership of PDP to seek redress at election Appeal Tribunal.
According to him: “We were not impressed on the outcome of the elections, during which lives were lost. An election is not meant to lose lives, because if we seek to represent people, and ended up killing them, then who would be governed
“In Kogi, we saw the report that the PDP women leader was burnt alive. Also, Senator Dino Melaye’s nephew was killed, and Bayelsa, we saw how ballot boxes were snatched, so I was shocked when my colleague, Hon Leke Abejide to be precise, asked that the house should commend the election, so I had to raise a point of order.
“We and the other minority parties are not satisfied. We do not see why someone should say we should as a house accept the outcome of such elections. It an abuse of our privileges. The party (PDP) would be at the tribunal to seek redress so we are behind the party,” he said.
Also speaking, the deputy minority leader, Hon Toby Okechukwu described the outcome as showing that “we have come to degenerate. We are improving on the negative side”, adding that it was unfortunate that violence took over the process, during which people were denied their voting rights.
While calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently intervene in addressing the ugly developments, the lawmaker said: “We are very sad with what has happened. We cannot be progressing in negative terms.”
He also pledged the resolve of the Minority Parties toward the amendment of the Electoral Act with the view to address all the anomalies observed during the just concluded elections.
Hon Okechukwu maintained that “no election worth the drop of the blood of any Nigerian.”
In a swift response to the allegation levelled against him, Hon Leke Abejide (African Democratic Congress, ADC) Kogi State who spoke at a press briefing affirmed that he played a mediator role between All Progressive Congress (APC) and PDP during the election.
He, however, denied the report that he was in support of violence that trailed the gubernatorial election in Kogi State, but noted that those who were aggrieved by the outcome of the election should seek redress at the Election Appeal Tribunal.
The lawmaker also sought for the amendment of the Electoral Act to allow for electronic voting to end cases of ballot snatching during elections.
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