THERE may be no end yet to the controversy trailing last Tuesdays election as the Benue State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has rejected the governorship election results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in parts of the state.The party alleged that the figures were manipulated to give advantage to Governor Gabriel Suswam.Meanwhile, Nigerias High Commissioner to Canada, Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher, has called for immediate institution of a government of proportional representation in the country at all levels of governance to reflect the voting percentage during elections.Addressing a press conference in Makurdi yesterday on the outcome of the governorship election in Benue State, Hagher stated: It is time Nigeria evolved a formula for proportional representation rather than the zero-sum game, winner-takes-all, of Western democracy.In a press statement released by the state chairman of the ACN, Abba Yaro, the party claimed that the governorship election was rigged in Logo, Ukum, Katsina-Ala, Guma and Gwer-West councils in the state.He further alleged that illegal thumb-printing of ballot papers was carried out and results falsified to give Governor Suswam victory.He said: The people of Benue State overwhelmingly voted for the ACN, but some INEC officials colluded with agents of the PDP to carry out illegal thumb-printing in Logo, Ukum, Katsina-Ala, Guma, Gwer-West and parts of Benue-South to subvert the will of Benue people.He stated that even in areas where the ACN was declared victorious, PDP colluded with INEC officials to ensure that the votes of the party were reduced to clear the way for the illegal re-election of Suswam.According to him: The late arrival of results in councils where ACN had overwhelming victory was because the PDP lost woefully in those areas and the results were manipulated to reduce the scores of our party. The examples are Makurdi, the Benue State capital and Kwande Council.He stated that the party would seek redress at the tribunal to ensure that it retrieved the mandate freely given to it by the people of the state.Yaro advised the supporters of the party to remain calm and not to take the laws into their hands as the party would take all legal steps to redress the injustice.Hagher stated that Nigeria should add the traditional values of African culture in our democracy to give democracy a human face by ensuring that all segments of political interests, which participated in government, were recognised.On the state governorship election, Hagher indicated that the results had shown the sharp division, which the state has fallen into politically.According to him: There is an urgent need for healing. The key political actors, Senator George Akume and Governor Suswam, must bury their hatchet because their victory is merely pyrrhic if it does not translate into shared goals and dreams for the improvement of the lives of Benue people.He urged Suswam to endeavour to use his new mandate to improve the lives of the rural dwellers of the state who contributed to his victory during the election.He added that the governor should set up Benue Elders Council, comprising all the past and present political office holders from the state who are 55 years and above.He noted that the function of the council would be advisory, with the aim of helping to guarantee peace through mediatory roles.Hagher stressed that the state government would move from political crisis management to state building.
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