A middle‑aged man from Abuja, who identified himself as Mustapha, recounted how he discovered a heap of sensitive Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) materials, including results and declaration sheets. In a viral video obtained by our correspondent, Mustapha displayed several unfinished documents littered near a refuse site in the Jikwoyi area of Karu Amac municipality, Federal Capital Territory.
Our correspondent observed that the empty declaration sheets listed at least seven candidates from seven political parties: Dogo Bukar (Action Alliance), Nijhu Jonathan (African Democratic Congress), Golkos Gaius (All Progressives Congress), Abubakar Ibrahim (New Nigeria Peoples Party), Markus Samuel (Peoples Democratic Party), Abdulaziz Saudi (Social Democratic Party), and Stephen Nerus (Young Progressives Party).
Mustapha explained in a telephone interview that his daughter had picked up some pieces of paper on her way home from school. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were sensitive INEC documents. He immediately instructed his daughter to lead him to the spot where she found them, but by the time he arrived, the materials had already been removed by unidentified persons. “These papers were dumped around Jikwoyi,” he said. “My daughter brought me there after she found the documents on her path. I recognized them as electoral documents from past elections (National Assembly/Presidential) and from the upcoming House of Assembly and Gubernatorial elections. I was particularly interested when I saw a form bearing Gombe, especially the candidate for the Pero Chonge constituency, Markus Samuel. However, before we could investigate further, the pile of documents that had been placed in sacks was taken away by unknown individuals.”
When contacted, Mohorret Bigun, Public Affairs Officer at the Gombe INEC office, said it was unlikely that the House of Assembly results had been tampered with, noting that the small size of the constituency reduces the margin for error. “I can see a duplicate with candidates’ names; someone might have printed it with the intention of using it during the election,” he said. “However, results are generated from polling units, and for State Assemblies the constituencies are usually smaller, which limits the margin of error. I don’t see anyone simply writing results. Who would announce them? Declaring false results attracts a sentence under the Electoral Act 2022.”
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