Kogi Election Petition Tribunal: Issues as purported winner of governorship was in Court as petitioner

The purported winner of the Kogi State gubernatorial election is at the tribunal on Monday for many reasons as a petitioner when he should have been at the tribunal as a defendant. Some unreasonable things happened that led to this state of affairs, one of which is the use of pre-filled original INEC result sheets procured by politicians from INEC Headquarters in Abuja, and enforcement of declaration of same by the INEC Chairman through a National Commissioner for the election sent to Kogi State. The whole world knows this. The high level political interference that forced the INEC Chairman into this is also known in the public domain.

A lot goes into being a petitioner in a tribunal in Nigeria, as elsewhere.

Remember that it is not over until it is over. The battle for improved democracy in Nigeria, a more transparent INEC and a more credible electoral process is one that all lovers of democracy in the country should take very seriously.

The beating up or if you like, the battery of Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho, is a great opportunity to highlight and bring back to national discourse the issue of INEC Headquarters aiding and abetting the criminality of selling original results sheets to politicians and raping the electoral process to ensure that the candidates who have bought them are declared winner by force, or by all means, even when it is against their own (INEC) guidelines and laws.

The battery of a sitting Senator of the Federal Republic, Isah Jibrin Echocho in Government House Lokoja by thugs of his own party in his own Government House while the Governor accepted that he was within Government House should be seen as a blessing in disguise.

While Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho bears the pain of the assault, and the Senate of the Federal Republic agonises that one of them, a member of the respected hallowed red chamber can be so battered, assaulted, and disgraced by thugs of his own home Government within a Government House, while the Governor was also within the Government House, and the heads of security agencies are now on their toes to look for, arrest, name and publicly parade the arrested criminals for all to see the miscreants of this Kogi State Government induced high profile insecurity, and the party which Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho belongs also bears the pain and shame of the ‘own goal’, it should be celebrated by lovers of democracy that the battery of the sitting Senator has exposed the opportunity to let the cat out of the bag why the sitting Senator was precisely and successfully targeted for the battery or assault, and possible assassination in Government House Lokoja.

INEC National Commissioners are now getting used to becoming in charge of declaring their own favourite candidates and encouraging those who do not have their favour to go court. The INEC legal or illegal Returning Officer declares a result and now boldly say that the declared loser can go to Court. Recall the Adamawa gubernatorial experience.

The November 11 2023 Kogi gubernatorial election took the rigging of election in Nigeria by the big people at the INEC Headquarters to a big time higher level characterised with selling of original INEC election result sheets.

It is the unsuccessful attempt to perfect this new paradigm in the Kogi State gubernatorial election management by INEC Headquarters that got bursted when the rigging was succeeding in Okene, Adavi and Okehi LGAs that has gotten this Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho into the trouble of his co-travellers who now feel that he betrayed them and for that reason he should die. At least they succeeded in getting him battered. God saved him.

Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho was brutalized in Kogi State Government House because he lacked the capacity to supervise same pre- filling of already procured INEC pre-filled election result sheets as was done in Okene, Adavi and Okehi LGAs. The people of the Eastern Senatorial District where Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho comes from were so determined like the people of Ogorimagogo LGA not to allow the success of INEC pre-filled election result sheets in their area.

There is also now the trending story of anger against the sitting Cabinet Minister for Steel Development in Nigeria who also is from Kogi East. The Minister was heavily checkmated by stakeholders of the community who ensured that the gubernatorial election was held according to guidelines and the Electoral Act. The Minister didn’t know that the people had scaled up.

Those who are close to the Minister for Steel Development should advice him to distance himself from Kogi State Government House for now so that he does not suffer same faith Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho has suffered in the hands of hired political thugs who are in Government House to met, dispense or enforce punishment to those the Kogi APC sees as betrayals during the gubernatorial election. The young cabinet Minister has a fine face and he should protect it. Himself and Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho are in-laws, and that could compound the feeling of betrayal, as if what happened was a bed room agreement.

We should all, as lovers of democracy, fight to expose the procurement of INEC result sheets from the INEC Headquarters in Abuja and supervising the pre-filling of same in some LGAs during the gubernatorial election in Kogi State. Once it succeeds finally in Kogi State then Nigeria is in a big shit. Democracy will be further threatened and possibly gone. People’s votes on Election Day will no longer matter or count. Voter apathy will deepen.

If the pre-filling of original INEC election result sheets is allowed to succeed in Nigeria then the consequences are clear, including the outcome of 2027 Presidential election results which can easily be procured by ganged stakeholders.

While it is confirmed that Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho of Kogi East was beaten by thugs in Government House, the world should not only be alarmed that a Senator of the Federal Republic can be so beaten by thugs in Government House Lokoja, but should be further alarmed as to the reason behind the battery of a sitting Senator of the Federal Republic by thugs domiciled in the Kogi State Government House Lokoja who dispense ‘punishment’ for perceived betrayal for failing in the assignment of pre-filling procured INEC pre-filled election result sheets.

I hope this helps those who want to know why the Senator from Kogi State was given the beaten of his life by thugs in Government House Lokoja while the Governor was still within Government House Lokoja.

God bless Kogi State.

God bless INEC

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.