Benue South APC Primary: Collation Officer Challenges Disputed Election Results

A formal petition has been submitted to the Benue State Commissioner of Police regarding the integrity of the results from the May 18, 2026, All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary election in Benue South. Dr. Peter Sani Ochijele, who served as the collation officer for the exercise, is seeking a police investigation into what he describes as a fabricated result sheet currently being used in a legal challenge.

The Disputed Election Outcome

According to the petition filed by Dr. Ochijele’s legal representatives, Paul E. Ikwe and Jeremiah O. Adoga, the controversy centers on a document presented by one of the contestants, Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa. Dr. Ochijele asserts that the results presented by Alapa in a Federal High Court case in Abuja do not match the official figures recorded during the primary election.

Official records from the collation center at Lux Haven Hotel, Otukpo, indicate that Dr. Francis Ottah Agbo was declared the winner with 58,760 votes. The remaining aspirants recorded the following totals:

• Hon. Joseph Ojobo: 6,782 votes
• Hon. Gabriel Oloche Agidani: 5,246 votes
• Hon. Dan Onje: 4,570 votes
• Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa: 4,312 votes
• Hon. Patrick Idoko Ojechema: 2,732 votes

Allegations of Forgery and Manipulation

Dr. Ochijele, in his petition, explicitly denies signing the document currently being paraded by Alapa. He claims that the disputed document attributes 24,788 votes to Alapa, a figure significantly higher than the 4,312 votes he officially received. The collation officer maintains that his role was to aggregate figures from the nine local government areas and present them to the National Assembly Primary Election Collation Officer, Alhaji Sabiu Saidu Mahuta, who then declared the winner.

The petition emphasizes that the original result sheet was endorsed by Dr. Ochijele, Alhaji Mahuta, and the secretary, Dr. Bashir Garba, before being distributed to INEC officials, party stakeholders, and security operatives. Dr. Ochijele has requested that the police compare the signature on the disputed document with his authentic signature on the original election records to verify his claims of forgery.

The Call for Investigation

The legal team representing Dr. Ochijele has urged the police to conduct a thorough probe into the origin of the document used in the court proceedings. The petition asks authorities to:

• Verify the authenticity of both the official result sheet and the disputed document.
• Establish the source of the discrepancies.
• Determine if any criminal manipulation occurred during the documentation process.

As of the time of the petition, the matter remains a subject of investigation. The collation officer insists that the document presented in court did not originate from the election he supervised and has formally disowned the signature attributed to him on that record.

Conclusion

The dispute highlights ongoing tensions regarding the documentation and verification of primary election results within the APC in Benue South. With the matter now before the police and the Federal High Court, the investigation is expected to clarify whether the discrepancies in the result sheets are the product of administrative error or intentional manipulation.

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p class=”vbna-source-note”>Source: Daily Post Nigeria

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