Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The senator representing Benue North East senatorial district in Benue State and Social Democratic Party (SDP) senatorial candidate, Chief Barnabas Gemade, has called for the cancellation of the senatorial election result from the zone.
Gemade who was at INEC office in Makurdi on Monday morning told newsmen after a meeting with 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 elections in the remaining five LGAs in the district were rigged.
But in a swift reaction, Suswam who debunked Gemade’s allegation said there was nothing like rigging in the area, insisting 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.
The former governor who noted that Gemade was not even close to him in the election 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) was finally declared the winner.
Suswam who said he had to 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.