LOKOJA—Armed men believed to be assassins stormed the residence of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kogi State, Dr. Gabriel Longpet, in Lokoja Thursday night in an attempt to assassinate him.
Longpet, however, escaped the attack as he was not in the premises when the gunmen arrived. Sources told reporters that soldiers deployed to guard his residence repelled the armed men but they succeeded in setting one vehicle ablaze right in front of the REC’s residence.
The reason for the attack could not be immediately ascertained but a source close to the REC’s office said it might not be unconnected with Longpet’s decision to grant the legal team of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka, access to inspect critical materials relating to the conduct of the November 11, 2023 election in the state.
The SDP legal team had on Saturday obtained an order from the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal compelling INEC to allow access to materials and all documents used in conducting the election.
The REC, in a statement, confirmed that the state headquarters in Lokoja was besieged by a mob on Wednesday morning explaining that “the siege prevented attorneys representing political parties involved in the recent off-cycle governorship election from inspecting documents/materials used in the election.”
Longpet said that the mob barricaded all entrances to the INEC office and prevented access to staff to carry out routine duties. “It took the intervention of the Nigerian Army to calm the situation down at the State Headquarters. The security agencies have assured us that they will maintain normalcy on our premises,” the REC said.
The SDP had accused the APC of sponsoring hoodlums to barricade the INEC office to prevent its legal team from accessing the INEC office but it was learnt that following the deployment of soldiers to the premises, the commission was able to comply with the court order on Thursday. The APC, on its part, denied the allegation accusing the SDP as the sponsors of the siege on INEC’s office.
The REC, as learnt, must have incurred the wrath of the ruling party for complying with the order of the tribunal by granting the opposition party and their legal team access to the controversial election materials.
Credit: Advocate News Nigeria