Former Kogi State acting Governor Clarence Olatunde Olafemi last night denied committing any electoral offence to warrant the inclusion of his name on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) list.
In a statement, he said: “I did not commit any electoral offence, because in 2003 that I first contested election into the Kogi State House of Assembly, I won seven wards out of the 10 wards in Mopa Muro State constituency. There was no petition from any opponent.
“It was a clear manifestation of my popularity as I contested on the platform of a party I joined less than three months to the election -the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
“In 2007, I re-contested the same position and won eight out of 10 wards in a repeat of my 2003 victory with improvement of one ward over the 2003 score.
“I became the speaker and it was expected as different forces against my political growth persuaded one of my opponents to go to the State Electoral Petition Tribunal to allege that I commanded thugs to snatch ballot boxes in some polling units and stuffed ballot boxes with thumb printed ballot papers, which the tribunal upheld and called for a rerun.
“This decision was not only shocking but ran contrary to the rule of natural justice as there was no single evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.”
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