The Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State has said it no longer trusts Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The party raised concerns about how INEC handled the 2023 Kogi State governorship election and the ongoing recall process of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

In a statement by the Kogi SDP’s Press Secretary, Isaiah Davies Ijele, the party said INEC had failed to follow proper procedures. Ijele mentioned that INEC had earlier promised to investigate and punish those involved in election misconduct.

INEC also canceled results from some local government areas like Okene, Okehi, Adavi, Ajaokuta, and Ogorimagongo. However, the commission still went ahead to announce final results, ignoring the proper rules about voter accreditation.

The party also pointed out that INEC keeps changing its position on the recall petition against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. At first, INEC said the petition didn’t meet the legal standard, but later it changed its decision. The SDP says this back-and-forth raises doubts about INEC’s honesty and creates room for suspicion.

Another issue raised by the party is the number of signatures INEC claims to have verified. INEC said it confirmed over 208,000 signatures, which the SDP says is almost twice the total number of voters from that election. The party finds this hard to believe and sees it as another sign of poor performance from INEC.

The SDP says it is worried about INEC repeating its past mistakes and calls on everyone who believes in democracy to pay attention to what is happening in Kogi State.