KEY POINTS

• During the 2023 election challenge Rep. Amobi Ogah has accused Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha of presenting fabricated polling unit results to dispute his political victory.
• According to the claim of Ogah the ICT unit at INEC dismissed the results but the Court of Appeal declared them fake.
• The representative has asked INEC to conduct a thorough investigation and has warned to take legal action and expose the matter publicly if the commission does not give an official response.

Through an official request to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Hon. Amobi Ogah a federal lawmaker from Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Constituency in Abia State seeks scrutiny of Minister of State for Labour and Productivity Nkiruka Onyejeocha in regards to election results forgery.

Accusations of forgery, fraudulent polling unit results

The April 14 letter sent to INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu by Hon. Amobi Ogah charged the minister with presenting falsified results obtained from 63 polling units that the author states were misrepresented as INEC-recognized documents throughout the 2023 election petition tribunal hearings.

Ogah reported that the INEC ICT Unit in Abuja officially discredited the presented documents which the minister used to challenge the electoral outcome.

Tribunal ruled against minister’s documents

Results sheets presented to the tribunal differed from each other although the Tribunal Registry recognized their authenticity during trials.

According to the Court of Appeal the documents submitted by the minister did not meet the criteria for genuine INEC documentation.

He declared his willingness to present INEC with official documents from the tribunal proceedings along with the court judgment to help their investigation.

Threat of legal action, public mobilization

The failure of INEC to act on this matter according to Ogah will push him to utilize a mandamus order thus forcing INEC to investigate. He expressed his intention to take the matter to public attention alongside revealing it to other relevant organizations.

A complete investigation with full transparency remains vital to safeguard the democratic system of Nigeria according to his comments as he urged INEC to take swift action and sanction those responsible for wrongdoing, forgery.