It was earlier reported that the gunmen stormed Gabriel’s residence and shot sporadically.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) have accused each other for being responsible for the gunmen attack on the residence of Kogi state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Gabriel Longpet on Friday.
It was earlier reported that the gunmen stormed Gabriel’s residence and shot sporadically.
Speaking on the incident, in a press conference on Friday, Kingsley Fanwo, the APC Campaign Council's Director of Media and Publicity said the SDP governorship candidate in the November poll was behind the attack and called for his arrest and prosecution.
Fanwo stated that the attack was perpetrated days after it alerted the nation of the plans of SDP thugs to attack INEC, adding that “they have finally done their worst by attacking the residence of the Kogi State INEC Commissioner, engaging security agents in a fierce gun battle and eventually burning down some vehicles in the residence and the area.”
“The same arsonists also had an attempt to burn down the Kogi State Government House foiled by our eagle-eye security agents. The same attempt was foiled at the State APC Secretariat in Lokoja.”
The ruling party(APC) added that SDP in the state and their collaborators are desperate to destroy some documents in INEC to cover the heist they committed in Kogi East where they allegedly killed an APC supporter “and drove them out of collation centres to forge the results that were eventually trumped by the massive votes of Kogites for the Governor-Elect.”
But the Social Democratic Party described APC’s claims as false. The party denied any involvement in the attack on the REC’s resident.
A statement issued on Friday in Lokoja by the Director, New Media, Muri/Sam Campaign Organisation, David Ijele, stated, “We strongly condemn the assassination attempt on the INEC Resident Commissioner for Kogi state, Dr. Hale Gabriel Longpet, which took place in Lokoja at approximately 2am this morning, December 1st, 2023.
According to him, “Election should not be treated as a war, nor should it be a matter of life and death. If the election was won fairly and transparently, then the legal process should be allowed to run its course without interference. However, it is unacceptable for thugs, in their high numbers yesterday, to be subject to fake protests, insisting that, on no account should forensic teams not be allowed to do their jobs”.
“We are grateful for the timely intervention of the Army, as the man and his family could have been wiped out overnight. The attackers also burnt his vehicles and took other valuables. This kind of behaviour is not acceptable in a democratic society,” he added.