The lawmaker representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Amobi Ogah, has formally petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), calling for the investigation and prosecution of the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, over alleged forgery of election results.
In a petition titled “Forgery, Uttering, and Tendering of Allied Forged Polling Unit Result Sheets Arising Out of the 2023 General Elections in Respect of Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State by Hon. Nkeiruka Chidubem Onyejeocha”, Hon. Ogah accused Onyejeocha of forging results from 63 polling units which were presented during the 2023 election tribunal proceedings.
He alleged that the tribunal, which ruled in favour of Hon. Onyejeocha, relied on these forged results in its judgment. According to Hon. Ogah, the results presented by the Minister were different from the certified true copies issued by INEC’s offices in Umuahia and Abuja.
“Your office had at the close of the elections issued certified copies of the Polling Units, Wards, LGAs, and constituency results relating to our Federal Constituency,” Ogah stated. “I obtained these documents through official channels and used them in my defence at the tribunal.”
He further claimed that during the tribunal, Onyejeocha submitted an entirely different set of results for 63 polling units, which also appeared to bear INEC certification. However, officials from INEC’s Umuahia office and its ICT unit in Abuja reportedly denied knowledge of the documents tendered by the Minister and reaffirmed the authenticity of the ones given to Ogah.
“It is obvious from my narrative above that these 63 Polling Unit results tendered by Hon. Onyejeocha were fake and a product of forgery,” he insisted.
“There can only be one authentic result per polling unit, and INEC has confirmed that the ones I presented are the genuine ones.”
Hon. Ogah concluded by urging INEC to investigate the matter thoroughly and to initiate legal proceedings against Onyejeocha for alleged forgery, a serious electoral offence under Nigerian law.
Below is a copy of Hon Amobi Ogah’s petition:
Source: Candid Reporters
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