An angry mob on Wednesday, attacked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office, located in Lokoja, Kogi State.
Confirming the incident in a statement released yesterday, titled: “Siege on the INEC State Headquarters in Lokoja,” the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Hale Longpet, said that the mob barricaded all entrances to the office and stopped staff from carrying out routine duties.
Hale added that the timely intervention of military officers calmed the situation.
He said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kogi State wishes to inform the public that the State Headquarters in Lokoja was besieged this morning by a mob that barricaded all entrances to the office and prevented access to staff to carry out routine duties.
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“The siege also prevented attorneys representing political parties involved in the recent off-cycle governorship election from inspecting documents/materials used in the election.
“It took the intervention of the Nigerian Army to calm the situation down at the State Headquarters. The security agencies have assured us that they will maintain normalcy on our premises.
“We assure all parties and litigants that the Kogi State office is committed to granting unimpeded access to all materials needed to prosecute their petitions.”
Recall that the commission on November 12 declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Usman Ododo, as the winner of the election after he polled 446,237 votes to defeat his SDP rival, Murtala Ajaka, who garnered 259,052 votes in the exercise.
