Days after the governorship election in Kogi state, leading to the announcement of Usman Ahmed Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the elected governor, the CDD War Room received several claims concerning the November 11 governorship election.
On November 15, 2023, a Facebook user posted an image of the INEC chairman with the claim that “ PVCs collected in Okene is 131,000 plus, APC scored 138,000 plus in Okene and PVCs collected in Okehi is 82,000 plus and APC scored 101,000 plus..we want all Nigerians to see this criminal declaration of APC in Kogi state. by INEC.”
The essence of this claim is that there was over-voting in the just-concluded gubernatorial election as the number of votes surpassed the number of permanent voters cards (PVCs) collected in the two Local Government Areas.
Claim I: The number of PVCs collected in Okene LGA is 131,000, while APC scored 138,000
Verification:
Section 52 (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 states that “where the number of votes cast at an election in any polling unit exceeds the number of accredited voters in that polling unit, the Presiding officer shall cancel the result of the election in that polling unit.”
By this section of the Electoral Act, should the number of votes cast surpass the number of accredited voters or PVCs collcted, that is considered over-voting and such result will be canceled.
According to the claim, the number of votes allegedly scored by APC is more than the PVCs collected and the number of accredited voters.
There are 11 wards that make up 283 polling units in Okene LGA of Kogi State. According to the figures released by INEC showing the breakdown of polling units in Kogi state, Okene LGA has 151,243 registered voters while 149,085 among them, collected their PVCs ahead of the November 11 governorship election.
In Okene LGA, the APC candidate scored 138,416, followed by the PDP and SDP candidate who polled 1,463 AND 275 votes respectively.
Verdict: FALSE
The CDD War Room can confirm that the number of collected PVCs and the votes scored by APC according to the claim is false. We found that the number of PVCs collected in Okene LGA ahead of the gubernatorial election stood at 149, 085 while APC had 138,416 of the vote cast.
Claim II: The number of PVCs collected in Okehi LGA is 82,000, while APC scored 101,000
Verification:
In Okehi LGA, there are 11 wards making up 188 polling units. According to the figures released by INEC, Okehi LGA has 94, 456 registered voters while 91,977 collected their PVCs ahead of the November 11 governorship election.
According to the results retrieved from the IREV portal and released by INEC, the number of accredited voters in Okehi LGA was 57,243. In the election, the APC candidate scored 53,062 while the PDP and SDP scored 2,722 and 153 respectively.
Verdict: FALSE
The CDD War Room can confirm that the number of collected PVCs and the votes scored by APC according to the claim is false. We found that the number of PVCs collected in Okehi LGA ahead of the gubernatorial election stood at 91,977 while APC had 53,062 of the vote cast. Therefore, there was no over voting.
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