Rep Amobi Ogah Petitions INEC, Seeks Probe of Minister Nkeiruka Onyejeocha over Alleged Electoral Fraud
The Member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Amobi Godwin Ogah, has formally petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), urging it to investigate and prosecute the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, for alleged electoral malpractice.
In the petition, titled “Forgery, Uttering, and Tendering of Allied Forged Polling Unit Result Sheets Arising Out of the 2023 General Elections in Respect of Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State by Hon. Nkeiruka Chidubem Onyejeocha”, Hon. Ogah accused the Minister of forging results from 63 polling units. These documents were allegedly submitted and relied upon during the 2023 National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal proceedings.
According to Ogah, the disputed results presented by Onyejeocha differed markedly from the Certified True Copies (CTCs) issued to him by INEC offices in Umuahia and Abuja. He argued that the tribunal’s ruling, which favoured Onyejeocha, was influenced by the allegedly forged documents.
“Your office had, at the close of the elections, issued certified copies of the polling units, wards, LGAs, and constituency results relating to our Federal Constituency,” Ogah wrote. “I obtained these documents through official channels and used them in my defence at the tribunal.”
He further alleged that Onyejeocha submitted a separate set of results from the same 63 polling units—results supposedly certified by INEC—but later disowned by both the INEC Umuahia office and the Commission’s ICT department at its headquarters in Abuja.
“It is obvious from my narrative above that these 63 polling unit results tendered by Hon. Onyejeocha were fake and a product of forgery,” Ogah stated. “There can only be one authentic result per polling unit, and INEC has confirmed that the ones I presented are the genuine ones.”
Ogah called on the electoral umpire to safeguard the credibility of the electoral process by launching a full-scale investigation and, where appropriate, initiating criminal proceedings against the Minister. He emphasised that such an act of forgery constitutes a grave violation of Nigeria’s electoral laws and threatens the integrity of the democratic process.
As at the time of filing this report, INEC has not officially responded to the petition.
