INEC Suspends Electoral Officer In Plateau Over Missing Ballot Papers

The electoral officer for Jos North Local Government Area, Fred Ogboji, has been suspended by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after ballots went missing in the Plateau State rerun election which was held on Saturday.

Naija News reports that the state head of the Department of Electoral Operations, Isah Idakwo, made this announcement on Sunday in Jos on behalf of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, or REC.

To allow for a thorough investigation, the REC instructed the election officer to step aside.

He said, “You are directed to step aside from office to enable the commission to carry out a proper investigation into the circumstances that led to the missing House of Representatives ballot papers in 16 polling units in your local government area.

“You are further directed to hand over to Mr Elekwa Onyemauche, the local government supervisor, and the two registration area supervisors of Tudun Wada Kabong and Naraguta B to coordinate and complete the remaining process.”

Recall that following the discovery that certain vote papers were missing, INEC postponed elections in 16 polling units within the Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency.The poll was later rescheduled for Sunday, February 4, according to a statement from state INEC REC Dr. Oliver Agundu.

The REC said that on election eve, the commission found that ballots for sixteen polling places in the Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency were missing.