Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

Senator representing Benue North East senatorial district in Benue State and candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Barnabas Gemade, has called for the cancellation of the senatorial election result from the zone.

Gemade, who was at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Makurdi, yesterday morning, told newsmen after a meeting with the Resident Commissioner (REC), Nentawe Yilwatda, that he came to complain about the election in his zone.

He accused former Benue governor and senatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Gabriel Suswam, of massively rigging the election. 

Gemade alleged that apart from Konshisha and Ukum Local Government Areas (LGA), elections in the remaining five LGAs in the district were rigged. 

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But, in a swift reaction, Suswam, who debunked Gemade’s allegation, said there was nothing like rigging in the area and insisted that the senator was fabricating lies to discredit the election, which, according to him, was devoid of violence.

Suswam, who was at the INEC office shortly after Gemade had left, posited that he was not a staff of the electoral body to have been involved in the collation of results.

He recalled that when Senator Gemade defeated him in 2015, he accepted it in good faith, pointing out that he should do same if he (Suswam) is finally declared winner.

Suswam, who said he had come to see the REC following some security challenges which made the INEC move result collation from his zone to Makurdi, said he had been assured by the REC that none of the electoral documents from the election in the zone would be tampered with.