The collation officer for the May 18, 2026, All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary election in Benue South, Dr Peter Sani Ochijele, has petitioned the police over an alleged alteration of the election result presented by one of the aspirants, Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa.
Ochijele, through his lawyers, Paul E. Ikwe and Jeremiah O. Adoga, urged the Commissioner of Police, Benue State Command, to investigate discrepancies in the disputed result sheet and verify a signature purportedly belonging to him.
In the petition dated September 30, 2026, and addressed to the police commissioner in Makurdi, the collation officer rejected the document, insisting that its contents did not reflect the results of the primary election he supervised.
Ochijele explained that six aspirants participated in the exercise, with results from the nine local government areas collated at the senatorial district collation centre at Lux Haven Hotel, Otukpo.
He said he aggregated the figures submitted by the local government collation officers and presented the results to the National Assembly Primary Election Collation Officer, Alhaji Sabiu Saidu Mahuta.
According to him, Mahuta subsequently declared Dr Francis Ottah Agbo the winner and returned him elected after securing 58,760 votes.
The results announced at the collation centre showed that Hon. Joseph Ojobo came second with 6,782 votes, while Hon. Gabriel Oloche Agidani scored 5,246 votes.
Hon. Dan Onje secured 4,570 votes, Alapa recorded 4,312 votes, while Hon. Patrick Idoko Ojechema polled 2,732 votes.
Ochijele said the announcement was witnessed by party stakeholders, security operatives, representatives of the aspirants and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who monitored the exercise.
He added that the official result sheet was endorsed by the relevant officials, including himself, Mahuta and his secretary, Dr Bashir Garba, before copies were distributed to the aspirants’ agents, INEC and other relevant bodies.
However, Ochijele said he later learnt that Alapa had instituted a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the outcome of the primary election.
He alleged that a different result sheet was presented in connection with the court proceedings, showing Alapa as the winner with 24,788 votes.
The collation officer disputed the figures, maintaining that Alapa scored 4,312 votes in the results officially announced at the Otukpo collation centre.
He also clarified that his responsibility was to aggregate and announce the results received from the local government collation officers, while the authority to declare the winner and return him elected rested with Mahuta and his team.
Ochijele further denied signing the disputed result sheet, asking the police to authenticate the signature bearing his name and compare it with his endorsement on the original election documents.
His lawyers said their client did not recognise the document as an authentic record of the primary election he supervised.
They stated in the petition that the result presented by Alapa in the court proceedings did not originate from the collation exercise conducted by their client.
The solicitors consequently requested that the police investigate the source of the disputed document, verify both result sheets and establish the circumstances surrounding the alleged discrepancies.
They also urged the police to determine whether any manipulation or other criminal irregularity occurred in the preparation and presentation of the document.
However, Alapa, reacting to the development, said the matter was already before a competent court and declined to make further comments on the allegations.
He maintained that the parties should allow the court to determine the dispute, adding that he would honour any invitation from the police if required.
Alapa also said Ochijele had testified in the ongoing court proceedings and questioned the timing of the police petition.
The police had yet to announce any findings on the allegations as of the time of the report.
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