The electoral officer for Jos North Local Government Area, Fred Ogboji, has been suspended by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ogboji was suspended after ballots went missing in the Plateau State re-run election which was held on Saturday.
The state head of the Department of Electoral Operations, Isah Idakwo, made this announcement on Sunday.
Idakwo announced Ogboji’s suspension in Jos on behalf of the Resident Electoral Commissioner.
To allow for a thorough investigation, the REC instructed the election officer to step aside.
Proper Investigation
He said: “You are directed to step aside from office.
This is to enable the commission to carry out a proper investigation.
The investigation is regarding the circumstances that led to the missing ballot papers for the House of Representatives re-run election.
This happened in 16 polling units in your local government area.
“You are further directed to hand over to Mr Elekwa Onyemauche, the local government supervisor.
“He and the two registration area supervisors of Tudun Wada Kabong and Naraguta B will coordinate and complete the remaining process”.
The Missing Papers
After it was discovered that certain vote papers were missing, INEC was left with no choice but to postpone the elections.
This affected 16 polling units within the Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency.
The poll was later rescheduled for Sunday, February 4, according to a statement from the state INEC REC, Dr. Oliver Agundu.
Also Read: INEC Suspends Re-Run Election In Kano, Enugu, Akwa-Ibom
Also, the REC said that on election eve, the commission found that ballots for 16 polling units were missing. All of the units are in the Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency.
