Thugs disrupt declaration of collated election results in Plateau

Thugs have invaded the collation centre for the Presidential and National Assembly elections for the Northern Senatorial District of Plateau and disrupted the result collation process.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that thugs invaded the venue on Monday and chased away the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other ad-hoc staff of the commission and halted the process.

Trouble started when the returning officer for the Jos North/Bassa constituency election, Nehemiah Sanda, asked party agents to sign the collated results.

The results indicated that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Musa Agah, scored the highest votes.

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Lazurus Maigoro, the returning officer for the presidential election in Jos North local government area, confirmed the incident to NAN.

He explained that the situation had generated serious tension at the collation centre, adding that thugs hindered the announcement of results for the constituency election and that of the senatorial district.

“Yes, it is true that thugs invaded our collation centre while we were doing our job. It is now up to the INEC to know what to do next,” he said.

Oliver Agundu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, who also confirmed the incident, said he was yet to receive a proper briefing on the matter.

“I wasn’t at the scene of the incident, and I have been busy with the collation of results for the presidential elections in the state.

“But I will meet with my officers’ concerns, get a proper briefing, and then act accordingly.

“But I want to assure the people of Plateau that, as electoral umpire, we will not do anything that will sabotage the peaceful nature of the state,” he said.

However, Rep. Dachung Bagos (PDP-Jos South/Jos East) has called on INEC to declare the results within 24 hours to avert any situation that would lead to an impending crisis in Jos and environs.

“Elections in Jos North/Bassa constituency were held peacefully, and results were equally collated in a peaceful manner.

“I think declaring the winner of the election should not generate any tension because all electoral processes were duly followed.

“So, I urge INEC to announce the results for the constituency and that of the northern senatorial district within the next 24 hours,” he called.