By Our Reporters
A lecturer of the Department of Philosophy in the University of Calabar, Mr. Gabriel Agabi Akwaji has been arrested by the Nigerian Police Force in Northern Cross River State for impersonating an ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Dr. Dominic Abakedi, in the Presidential and National Assembly polls held yesterday.
Mr. Akwaji, a native of Ugboro in Bekwara Local Government Area was also caught in possession of a fake Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS Machine.
Dr. Abakedi was posted to Yache ward of Yala Local Government Area, but Agabi claimed that Abakedi told him to represent him and execute the job.
Trouble began when the collation officer could not be found after elections concluded at 6:00PM on Saturday. Mr. Agabi is said to have arrived the Okpoma, Yala Local Government Area headquarters at about 2:00 PM on Sunday in the company of chieftains of a political party after staying incommunicado since Saturday evening.
When his whereabouts was questioned, a fracas ensued leading to the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the State, Alphonsus Eba Esq. getting involved in a shirt grabbing match with the agent of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Sunday Emaluji.
Thereafter, Mr. Agabi was arrested and brought to the INEC Area Office in Ogoja, where he claimed he was asked by Dr. Abakedi to replace him. A BVAS found in his possession with the following number, 09/18/10/012 was queried and showed that 216 voters were accredited but the result sheets showed 250 votes cast.
Claims that 16 other BVAS machines deployed across the 17 polling units in Yache ward were fake could not be verified.
However, Mr. Agabi was whisked to the Ogoja Area Command for further interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Unit.
When reached, the Commissioner of Police in charge of elections in the district, Zannah Shettima, said: “I don’t have the details and so I can’t speak on it.”
Meanwhile, collation of results have since stalled across the five Local Government Areas in the State – a development that is infuriating security operatives and electoral officials.