The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (The ICIR) has discovered disparity in the total votes recorded for the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the actual summation of the vote count from each of the twenty one local government areas in the just concluded Kogi governorship election.
Incumbent governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello won the Saturday election, defeating his closest rival, Engr Musa Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party.
After a thorough review of the results, The ICIR found out that the final score announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the APC is 12,682 higher than the actual votes counted. This represents 3.2 per cent surplus in favour of the ruling party.
The Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Ibrahim Umar, declared at the INEC office in Lokoja that the APC governorship candidate, Yahaya Bello, polled 406,222 votes in total against Musa Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who garnered a total 189,704 votes.
Here are the figures as announced by INEC:
| LGA | APC | PDP |
| Adavi | 64,657 | 366 |
| Ajaokuta | 17,952 | 5,565 |
| Ankpa | 11,269 | 28,108 |
| Bassa | 8,386 | 9,724 |
| Dekina | 8,948 | 16,575 |
| Ibaji | 12, 682 | 10,504 |
| Idah | 4,602 | 13,962 |
| Igalamela-Odolu | 8,075 | 11,195 |
| Ijumu | 11,425 | 7,587 |
| Kabba/Bunu | 15,364 | 8,084 |
| Koton Karfe | 14,097 | 9,404 |
| Lokoja | 19,457 | 11,059 |
| Mopa-Muro | 4,953 | 3,581 |
| Ofu | 11,006 | 12,264 |
| Ogori/Magongo | 3,679 | 2,145 |
| Okehi | 36,954 | 478 |
| Okene | 112,764 | 139 |
| Olamaboro | 16,876 | 8,155 |
| Omala | 8,473 | 14,403 |
| Yagba East | 6,735 | 7,546 |
| Yagba West | 7,868 | 8,860 |
| TOTAL | 393,540 | 189,704 |
However, a summation of results from 21 local government areas monitored live by The ICIR shows that the APC candidate instead polled a total 393,540 votes, a difference of 12,682 from the figure announced by the INEC, while the PDP polled 189,704 votes.
The ICIR discovered that 12,682 is also exactly the number of votes that went to the APC candidate at Ibaji Local Government Area, an indication that the result from the area may have been posted twice.
Results from Ibaji were part of the last set of results announced on Monday morning by the electoral commission after it postponed the collation process on Sunday evening.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, did not deny this finding when The ICIR reached out to him.
“We are going to look at the figure again when the report is sent to the headquarters,” he said.
He also assured The ICIR that the Commission would check for votes other local governments to see if there are double posting of results.
