The lawmaker representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Amobi Ogah, has formally petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), calling for an investigation and possible prosecution of the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, over alleged forgery of election result documents.
In the petition titled “Forgery, Uttering, and Tendering of Allied Forged Polling Unit Result Sheets Arising Out of the 2023 General Elections in Respect of Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State by Hon. Nkeiruka Chidubem Onyejeocha”, Hon. Ogah accused the Minister of presenting forged results from 63 polling units during the 2023 election tribunal proceedings.
Ogah claimed that the tribunal, which eventually ruled in favor of Onyejeocha, relied on the allegedly forged documents to reach its decision. According to him, the results submitted by Onyejeocha were significantly different from the certified true copies issued by INEC offices in Umuahia and Abuja.
“Your office had at the close of the elections issued certified copies of the Polling Units, Wards, LGAs, and Constituency results relating to our Federal Constituency,” Ogah stated in the petition. “I obtained these documents through official channels and used them in my defense at the tribunal.”
He further alleged that during the proceedings, Onyejeocha presented an entirely different set of results for the 63 polling units, all bearing what appeared to be INEC certifications. However, officials from INEC’s Umuahia office and the ICT unit at its Abuja headquarters reportedly denied knowledge of those documents and affirmed the authenticity of the ones in Ogah’s possession.
“It is obvious from my narrative above that these 63 polling unit results tendered by Hon. Onyejeocha were fake and a product of forgery,” Ogah insisted. “There can only be one authentic result per polling unit, and INEC has confirmed that the ones I presented are the genuine ones.”
Hon. Ogah concluded by urging INEC to launch a thorough investigation and commence legal proceedings against Onyejeocha for alleged forgery, describing it as a grave electoral offense under Nigerian law.
