Dr Peter Sani Ochijele, the collation officer for the May 18, 2026, All Progressives Congress senatorial primary election in Benue South, has formally requested a police investigation into a disputed election result sheet allegedly presented by one of the contestants, Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa.
Through his legal representatives, Paul E. Ikwe and Jeremiah O. Adoga, Ochijele lodged a petition with the Commissioner of Police for the Benue State Command, asking law enforcement to probe alleged alterations to the election figures and a signature purportedly belonging to him.
In the petition dated September 30, 2026, and submitted in Makurdi, the collation officer vehemently rejected the document, asserting that its details contradicted the official outcome of the primary election he oversaw.
How was the primary election conducted?
The exercise featured six aspirants whose results from the nine local government areas were collated at the Otukpo district centre located at Lux Haven Hotel. Ochijele explained that after compiling the figures from all nine local government collation officers, he submitted them to the National Assembly Primary Election Collation Officer, Alhaji Sabiu Saidu Mahuta.
Subsequently, Mahuta declared Dr Francis Ottah Agbo as the winner of the contest after he garnered 58,760 votes. Official figures announced at the venue showed Hon. Joseph Ojobo in second place with 6,782 votes, followed by Hon. Gabriel Oloche Agidani with 5,246 votes.
Furthermore, Hon. Dan Onje secured 4,570 votes, Alapa recorded 4,312 votes, and Hon. Patrick Idoko Ojechema finished with 2,732 votes. The announcement took place in the presence of party stakeholders, security personnel, representatives of the aspirants, and officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Why is the result disputed?
According to Ochijele, the authentic result sheet was duly signed by him, Mahuta, and secretary Dr Bashir Garba, before being distributed to party agents, INEC, and other relevant authorities.
However, Ochijele stated that he later discovered Alapa had filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to contest the primary election's outcome. He alleged that the result sheet submitted in that legal proceeding contained inflated figures showing Alapa as the victor with 24,788 votes, completely differing from the 4,312 votes officially recorded at the collation centre.
Ochijele clarified that his role was strictly to aggregate local government results, while Mahuta held the sole responsibility of declaring the winner. Disowning the signature on the controversial document, his legal counsel urged the police to authenticate the endorsement and investigate the source of the alleged manipulation.