Benue: Hoodlums burn ballot papers, beat INEC officials

Posted by admin Benue, Elections 2011, NNP Elections 2011 Updates, State News Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

THE gubernatorial and state House of Assembly elections were marred with violence in Benue State, as election materials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), meant for Kaseyo in Mbayee/Yandev ward of Guma Local Government Area of the state were set ablaze by hoodlums.

The INEC officials in the area were also beaten up by the hoodlums.

The state governor, Gabriel Suswam, defeated his opponents at the Government House polling unit, as he defeated the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Professor Steve Ugbah, with 93 votes.

While Suswam polled 278 votes, Ugbah scored 185 votes out the total votes cast, according to the results so far released at the time of filing this report.

Eyewitness account told the Nigerian Tribune that the violence in Guma was caused by a top politician in the area, who led some party thugs to invade the polling unit, seized the ballot papers and set them ablaze.

The INEC presiding officer in the unit, who allegedly escaped being lynched by the hoodlums, was at the Government House, Makurdi, with blood stains all over his body, as a result of the injuries inflicted on him before being rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Makurdi.

However, restriction of movement was enforced across the state by stern-looking military men,
As early as 8.00 a.m, all roads leading to other parts of the state were blocked by soldiers who took over the security in the state.

Suswam, speaking with newsmen after his accreditation at about 11.45 a.m in company of his wife, Dooshima, said the government had to request for more security in the state because of alleged threats to lives from different part of the state.

He said: “There is more security than the two previous elections because a lot of people have said they received threats from different parts of the state. So, we requested for more security so that people will feel protected while voting. You observed that across the state there is more security than previous elections”.

Suswam, who was confident of his victory in the poll, said he believed that the people would re-elect him back to the Government because of his antecedents and performance in the last four years.

“In any contest that you are involved, you want to believe that you will win and given the work that I have done across the entire state and responses from the Benue people; I believe that today (yesterday) I will emerge victorious in the governorship contest” he said.

The Gubernatorial race in the state was a straight fight between the incumbent governor, Gabriel Suswam of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Professor Steve Ugbah of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Based on the results in some polling units announced so far at the time of filing this report, the ACN, candidate and former governor Benue State, Senator George Akume in the rescheduled National Assembly election, appeared to be ahead of his opponent, Hon. Terngu Tsegba of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Akume defeated the PDP Candidate at the Government House Polling Unit with 44 votes. While he polled 247 votes at the polling unit, Terngu Tsegba scored 203 in the Benue North West Senatorial district election.

At the Wailomawo polling Unit at St. Theresa’s Primary School, while Akume polled 216 votes, his closest rival, Terngu Tsegba of PDP scored 61 votes.

According to the results announced at the polling Unit, the ACN gubernatorial candidate led with 220 votes while Suswam had 80 votes out of the total votes cast.

-Tribunewp_posts