Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria have alleged that security agencies were complicit in the rigging and manipulation of Saturday’s governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CCD) and the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities berated security operatives for allegedly colluding with state officials to undermine the electoral process in both states.

Presenting a report on the elections to journalists in Abuja on Monday, the CDD Executive Director, Idayat Hassan said many voters were disenfranchised in Kogi as a result of threats to life.

She said the elections were violently undermined by what she described as an unrelenting band of partisan outlaws, noting that observers and journalists in Kogi reported the death of 10 persons and over 79 critical incidents during the polls.

“The sheer magnitude of the violent assault on the sanctity of the ballot was shocking beyond description. The outcome of such a process that was so criminally subverted should not be allowed to stand.

“At the last count, our observer report from Kogi State had recorded the death of 10 people in various shooting incidents and attacks across the state. This has combined to damage the credibility of the polls.”

“The incidents range from hijack of electoral materials by thugs, kidnap of INEC ad hoc staff, vote-buying, ballot snatching, attack on observers and journalists and under-age voting,” Hassan said.

In Bayelsa, the CDD director said the polls also recorded thuggery, shooting, vote-buying, coordinated attacks against the voting environment, particularly in opposition strongholds as well as impersonation by voters. 

“The conduct of the Kogi and Bayelsa polls is indicative of an electoral environment that is fast deteriorating. The two major parties engaged in electoral misconduct. An interrogation of the turnout figure declared in Okene and Adavi local government areas could not stand proper scrutiny,” Hassan pointed out.

The centre therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to stand by and allow the degeneration of the electoral process by demonstrating true leadership to redeem Nigeria’s electoral process.

On his own part, the Executive Director of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, David Anyaele said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to provide special aids in most polling units for voters with disability.

Anyaele said, “What happened during the governorship and Kogi West Senatorial elections were not an election but warfare to capture Kogi State as the elections cannot be said to be free, fair, credible nor inclusive.

“Based on the level of violence experienced by voters in Kogi State in the presence of over 31, 000 men and women of the Nigeria Police, we call on Nigerians to demand accountability on the role of the Nigeria Police on the insecurity that characterized the elections.”

Contributing, the Chairman, YIAGA Africa Watching the Vote, Bayelsa Observation Mission, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi urged INEC to provide a detailed account of all polling units where no election held and to ensure that elections were conducted there.

The group called for an audit of the election in Bayelsa State as according to it there was no voting in many polling units across the state.

“INEC announced 352,552 votes or 71 percent for All Progressives Congress and 143,172 or 29 percent votes for the Peoples Democratic Party.

“These results are not consistent with the Parallel Vote Tabulation estimates of between 62 percent and 46 percent for APC and 52 percent and 37 percent for PDP. This suggests that the results were manipulated during the collation process,” she said.