My Votes Were Burnt During 2019 Elections

Akpabio claims his votes were burnt during the 2019 elections.
He says INEC prosecuted the wrong person despite court orders.
The Senate President demands stronger accountability in electoral reforms.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has alleged that he was cheated during the 2019 general elections, claiming that his votes were deliberately destroyed in his local government.

Akpabio made the statement on Thursday during the Senate confirmation hearing of Joash Amupitan as the substantive Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

EDITOR’S PICKS

EKO HOT BLOG reports that He recounted that although the court annulled the election and ordered the prosecution of the electoral officer involved, the wrong individual was eventually punished.

He said, “I was cheated in the 2019 elections, and we went to court. The court annulled the election and ordered the prosecution of the electoral officer, but instead of prosecuting the INEC commissioner, they prosecuted the returning officer, a professor from the University of Calabar who has done 34 years in service.

“He was sentenced to three years imprisonment, while the same INEC Electoral Commissioner, working with some cohorts, changed the story to claim that the man was trying to assist Akpabio.

“If the man was trying to assist me, how come they burnt my votes in my local government? How come I was not declared the winner? I kept quiet.”

Akpabio further called for stronger accountability measures in future electoral reforms, insisting that the real offenders within INEC must be held responsible for electoral irregularities.

He argued that the Resident Electoral Commissioners often influence results contrary to the Electoral Act, saying security operatives are sometimes deployed to hijack results from collation centres.

According to him, “If we are amending the Electoral Act, the real offenders must be held responsible because at the level of the returning officer, the man can only announce what is collated from the centres. But when the Resident Electoral Commissioner sends security men to hijack the announcement to his office, it becomes a violation of the law.”

Akpabio urged that INEC should take responsibility for certain infractions, stressing that electoral reforms must ensure transparency and accountability across all levels of election management.