The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), umbrella organisation of all registered political parties and associations in Nigeria, has rejected the process and outcome of the Saturday’s local government election in the Benue State, describing it an “unprecedented rape of democracy and rubbishing of every tenet of free, fair and credible election at the local government level”.

The CNPP in a statement issued on Sunday evening by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, demanded for the cancellation of the election result. It said: “The process was tailored by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) and the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) and Governor Samuel Ortom to produce APC Chairmen in the state irrespective of the people’s choice.

“The voters apathy marred the election in all 23 local government areas of Benue State on Saturday, which resulted in low turnout of voters across the state clearly indicate that the people rejected the process and a remarkable statement that the election outcome is a fraud.

“We, therefore, call on the National Assembly, the international community and all well-meaning Nigerians to take note of the unprecedented rape of democracy and rubbishing of every tenet of free, fair and credible election at the local government level through electoral process manipulation by the Governor Samuel Ortom-led administration.

“For us, no election took place in Benue on Saturday and we demand immediate cancellation of the election.”

The Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) had earlier in the day announced that the ruling APC had won all the 23 local government chairmanship seats. It also announced that the party won all the councillorship positions, with some of the candidates returned unopposed.

BSIEC chairman John Tsuwa who declared the results in Makurdi, however, declined to release details of votes scored by the candidates.

“The figures are not ready. I will not entertain questions because this is not a press conference,” he told curious newsmen.

Tsuwa said that eight political parties participated in the exercise and listed them to include Accord Party, APC, PDP, SDP, ACB, PPP, LP and NNPP.

He thanked security agencies for ensuring a smooth conduct of the elections, and expressed happiness that no case of violence or snatching of ballot box was reported throughout the exercise.

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