The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the 2023 off-cycle election in Kogi, Dino Melaye, has shared a video where Electoral officials were seen thumb-printing ballot papers.
Melaye claimed that the electoral official had to pre-fill the ballot papers in order to give Usman Ododo, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, the numbers he needed to win the state’s governorship election on November 11.
“This is just one out of the many crimes they’re trying to cover. Electoral Officer, Okehi LGA opened his office for thumbprinting of ballot papers for APC Candidate. This was done to enable them to meet up with the figure pre filled on the result sheet.Police over to you,” Melaye wrote.
Electoral officials were seen thumb-printing vote sheets in a video obtained by Naija News, however it was unclear which party the official was filling the ballot paper on behalf of. 
Recall that Melaye declined to vote during the election in protest of the claimed widespread rigging that occurred during the state’s election.
Melaye, who claimed that INEC was complicit in the rigging that resulted in his loss in the state governorship election, stated that he would not contest the election outcome in court.
Giving his reasons, Melaye said that the judiciary is no longer independent but a department of the APC.
He said as things stand in Nigeria, no discerning observer, no matter how chartable, can avoid the conclusion that the judiciary seems to have become a willing and potent tool in the hands of powerful forces that are bent on subverting democracy in Nigeria, adding that the common saying that the judiciary is the last hope of aggrieved citizens is now an empty slogan because “the judiciary is rapidly turning to the lost hope of the people of Nigeria”.
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