Voters participating in the re-run election for the Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency in Enugu State reportedly attacked an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after discovering pre-filled result sheets at a polling unit.
Witnesses revealed that the pre-filled result sheets allocated a significant number of votes to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, while allotting minimal votes to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party candidates.
The incident occurred despite the late arrival of INEC officials in many polling units, with some officers arriving without result sheets or arriving with pre-filled ones, particularly in areas with high voter turnout.
The INEC presiding officer, identified as Mr. Ronald Ugwudani, claimed that the pre-filled result sheet was provided by the local government office, but voters became suspicious and demanded to see the sheets.
When Ugwudani failed to produce the result sheets, angry voters searched his bag and found them inside. The situation escalated, and Ugwudani narrowly escaped serious injury.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Chukwuemeka Chukwu, had earlier stated that the commission deployed over 700 staff and armed security personnel for the re-run election.
