Curious Snatching of Kogi Election Tribunal’s Materials

Notes for File

Political actors in Kogi State have been threatening Nigeria’s democracy by killing opponents and unleashing violence on the people during elections.

In the last general election, agents of government excavated the major roads leading to the areas considered to be opposition strongholds to prevent the distribution of election materials in those areas.

Even after the election was held, politicians in the state would not allow anyone to challenge the results of the election.

 Lovers of democracy were shocked on Tuesday when the Kogi State Police Command announced that it had ordered an investigation into the alleged attack on the Secretary of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in the state, Mr. David Mike.

The report claimed that Mike and two others left their hotel rooms in Lokoja at about 1pm on Monday, heading to their office at the High Court Complex in his Peugeot 406 car when gunmen in three SUVs blocked his car, and made away with all the documents, including petitions filed by four parties namely Action Alliance, Action People’s Party, Peoples Redemption Party and Social Democratic Party, two record books and a bag containing his personal items.

It is suspicious that officials of the election petition tribunal could move around the state with such sensitive materials without adequate security when they were aware of the desperation of political parties  in the state to win the governorship election at whatever cost to human lives.

The secretary of the tribunal has questions to answer on why he did not make adequate arrangements with the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) for the provision of adequate security for the movement of the materials.

This will clear the suspicion of their alleged complicity in the disappearance of the materials.

The police and other security agencies in the state should also explain whether or not they are aware of the presence of the tribunal secretary and his team in the hotel and their movement.

If they are aware, why was adequate security not provided? If they are not aware, why did the tribunal secretary not apply for police and DSS protection?

The security agencies must rise up to the challenge before such an act spreads to other states and destroys Nigeria’s democracy.

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