The single sharpest fact in one or two punchy sentences. Douglas Fabeke, a candidate in the June 20 Rivers South-East Senatorial District bye-election, has rejected the result, citing widespread electoral malpractice and violence.

Dr. Fabeke, who represents the Action Alliance (AA), made this known in separate petitions dated June 22 and addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

He alleged widespread electoral malpractice, voter suppression, intimidation, violence and manipulation of results across the seven local government areas that make up the senatorial district. Douglas Fabeke accused some INEC officials and security agents of being compromised during the exercise, alleging collusion to favour the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Olaka Nwogu.

According to him, there were incidents where electoral materials were allegedly diverted, while ballot papers belonging to his party were reportedly destroyed in some locations. He also alleged that in some polling units, officials failed to properly conduct vote counting, while BVAS machines malfunctioned and in some cases allegedly disenfranchised eligible voters.

The AA candidate further alleged cases of vote buying in several communities, claiming that voters were offered money ranging from ₦1,000 to ₦5,000 to influence their choices. Fabeke accused some electoral officials of interference in the voting process, including alleged manual thumb-printing of ballot papers and inflation of figures in favour of the PDP.

He also accused some security personnel deployed for the election of failing to intervene in incidents of violence and intimidation, and in some cases allegedly aiding obstruction of electoral processes. Fabeke said:

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I hereby reject the result announced by INEC as the process that produced the declared outcome was compromised by widespread irregularities, violence, intimidation, voter suppression and manipulation.”

He called for a full investigation into the conduct of the election, preservation and forensic review of all electoral materials, including BVAS data, result sheets and ballot papers. Fabeke also urged INEC to declare him the rightful winner of the election after a review of the process.

Prof. Amupitan is the Chairman of INEC, and Kayode Egbetokun is the Inspector-General of Police. INEC is the body that conducted the election, while the IGP is the head of the Nigeria Police Force.

Rivers South-East Senatorial District is one of the seven senatorial districts in Rivers State, with seven local government areas making up the district. The bye-election was conducted to fill the vacant seat of late Senator George Thompson Sekibo.

Senator Olaka Nwogu is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Douglas Fabeke represents the Action Alliance (AA).

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is one of the major political parties in Nigeria, and Senator Olaka Nwogu is its candidate for the Rivers South-East Senatorial District bye-election.

BVAS machines are electronic devices used to transmit election results from polling units to the INEC results server.

INEC is the Independent National Electoral Commission, responsible for the conduct of elections in Nigeria, while Prof. Joash Amupitan is its Chairman.

Kayode Egbetokun is the Inspector-General of Police, the head of the Nigeria Police Force.