• SDP, Ajaka can’t prove rigging allegations, says Fanwo
• Tribunal adjourns for materials inspection

Kogi State Commissioner of Police (CP), Bethrand Onuoha, has warned politicians not to create problem for the state, since election is over.

Onuoha made the plea after some party supporters staged a protest at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday.

He said: “We thank God that the off-cycle governorship election of Kogi has come and gone peacefully and we don’t expect anyone to cause any problem for us.

“As a security agency, we are imploring the politicians and INEC to follow the legal constitutional process since the issues are being handled by the Election Petition Tribunal.”

Some suspected supporters of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi had stormed the INEC state secretariat, yesterday, protesting against INEC’s alleged tampering with election materials.

Security agencies, however, dispersed the protesters with tear gas and barricaded the road leading to the office.

IN the same vein, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council in Kogi has dared SDP to back its rigging claim against the governor-elect, Usman Ododo.

According to APC, SDP has no evidence to prove its case; hence, its resort to self-help.

In a statement, yesterday, Director of Media and Publicity, APC Campaign Council, Kingsley Fanwo, noted that the party was confused, resulting in its harassment of INEC and playing the victim.

Reacting to SDP’s claim that the thugs that besieged INEC office in Lokoja were hired by the APC, Fanwo said the outburst was no deviation from the opposition party’s culture of propaganda and strategy to blame everyone else for their own actions.

MEANWHILE, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Kogi has adjourned proceedings pending the completion of inspection of election materials by SDP.

At the resumed hearing, yesterday, the SDP said INEC was cooperating with the inspection of materials as ordered bythe tribunal, but sought for more time.

The tribunal had ordered INEC to issue Certified True Copies (CTCs) of electoral materials on the November 11 off-cycle election in the state to the SDP within 48 hours. It also ordered INEC to allow SDP’s forensic experts to examine the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets for Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogori-Magongo, Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Kogi and Bassa local councils.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu, disclosed on Saturday, in Lokoja, that the SDP wanted the materials to prove its case.

So, following two ex parte motions SDP filed on November 19, he ordered that the materials be inspected.

SDP and Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka are challenging the victory of APC’s candidate, Ododo, at the election petition tribunal.

Ododo was declared winner of the election with 446,237 votes, while his closest rival, Yakubu-Ajaka, reportedly got 259,052 votes.