APC Collation Officer Accuses Benue Senatorial Aspirant Alapa Of Forging Signature, Altering Primary Results To Claim Victory
APC Collation Officer Accuses Benue Senatorial Aspirant Alapa Of Forging Signature, Altering Primary Results To Claim Victory
The petitioners, however, insisted that the result announced at the conclusion of the exercise showed that Dr. Francis Ottah Agbo won the primary with 58,760 votes, while Alapa came fifth with 4,312 votes.
The Collation Officer for the May 18, 2026, All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary election in Benue South, Dr. Peter Sani Ochijele, has petitioned the Benue State Commissioner of Police, accusing a former aspirant, Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa, of forging his signature and manipulating the election results to falsely present himself as the winner.
Ochijele, through his solicitors, Paul E. Ikwe, Esq., and Jeremiah O. Adoga, Esq., is demanding an immediate police investigation into the falsification, alteration and manipulation of the primary election results, as well as the arrest and prosecution of those found responsible.
In a petition dated September 30, 2026, and addressed to the Commissioner of Police in Makurdi, Benue State, the lawyers alleged that Alapa presented a falsified election result in court proceedings, claiming that he had been declared winner of the APC Benue South Senatorial District primary by Ochijele.
The petitioners, however, insisted that the result announced at the conclusion of the exercise showed that Dr. Francis Ottah Agbo won the primary with 58,760 votes, while Alapa came fifth with 4,312 votes.
According to the petition, six aspirants participated in the primary election, with results from the nine local government areas in the senatorial district collated at the party’s senatorial headquarters at Lux Haven Hotel, Otukpo.
Ochijele said he publicly collated the results submitted by the nine local government area collation officers, announced the scores of the aspirants and subsequently submitted the outcome through the appropriate party officials.
The results, as contained in the petition, were as follows: Dr. Francis Ottah Agbo – 58,760 votes, Hon. Joseph Ojobo – 6,782 votes, Hon. Gabriel Oloche Agidani – 5,246 votes, Hon. Dan Onje – 4,570 votes, Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa – 4,312 votes and Hon. Patrick Idoko Ojechema – 2,732 votes.
Ochijele maintained that the results were announced publicly in the presence of APC members, security operatives, agents representing the aspirants and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who monitored the exercise.
He further stated that the original result sheets were duly signed by him and copies distributed to the aspirants’ agents, INEC officials and other relevant stakeholders.
The petition also stated that the National Assembly Primary Election Collation Officer, Alhaji Sabiu Saidu Mahuta, and his secretary, Dr. Bashir Garba, signed the results before they were transmitted to the APC.
However, Ochijele said he was shocked when his attention was drawn to a suit instituted by Alapa at the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging the outcome of the May 18 primary election.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1092/2026, reportedly contained a different set of election results, with Alapa claiming that Ochijele had declared him the winner of the senatorial primary.
According to the petition, the disputed document credited Alapa with 24,788 votes, instead of the 4,312 votes contained in the result originally announced by Ochijele.
The collation officer stated that Alapa not only altered the figures but also manipulated his signature and superimposed it on the purported result sheet to make it appear authentic.
Dr Ochijele Lays Petition 2026.pdf
Ochijele categorically denied signing the disputed document, insisting that the result being presented in court did not originate from the primary election he supervised.
He also questioned how Alapa could claim to have been declared winner by him when the original result showed that he finished fifth among the six aspirants.
The petitioner further argued that his responsibility was to collate and announce the results, while the authority to formally declare the winner and return the elected aspirant rested with Mahuta and his team.
He maintained that the manipulation had falsely associated him with a result he never produced or signed, thereby exposing him to public embarrassment and damaging his professional reputation and integrity.
In the petition titled “Falsification, Alteration and Manipulation of Benue South APC Senatorial Primary Election Result Conducted on the 18th May, 2026 by Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa: A Call for Thorough and Discreet Investigation Thereof,” the lawyers said their client had formally instructed them to report the matter to the police for investigation.
The lawyers identified Ochijele as a legal practitioner, politician and member of the APC in Benue State, who was appointed by the party’s state chapter to serve as a returning officer for the Benue South senatorial primary election.
They stated that the exercise was conducted on May 18, 2026, with results from the nine local government areas brought to the senatorial headquarters in Otukpo for collation.
The petition reads in part: “Our client declared the said results publicly in the presence of party faithful, security agents, agents of the Aspirants and INEC personnel/officers that monitored the election and the result duly signed by our client and copies given to each of the persons mentioned above, and thereafter, the result was transmitted to the APC State Headquarters, Makurdi.”
The lawyers said their client was subsequently shocked to discover that Alapa had allegedly presented another result in the Federal High Court, claiming that the document reflected the outcome announced by Ochijele.
They further stated: “Our client discovered to his chagrin and dismay from the processes in the said suit that Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa falsified and altered the result publicly announced by our client and imputed 24,788 votes to himself to be the result announced by our client.”
The petition also accused Alapa of manipulating Ochijele’s signature and superimposing it on the disputed result sheet to give the document an appearance of authenticity.
“Our client wishes to state categorically that the result which Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa has paraded in the processes filed in the court purporting himself to be the winner of the Benue South APC Senatorial Primary election did not originate or emanate from the election which our client was the Returning Officer and the same is absolutely false,” the lawyers stated.
They added: “Also, our client wishes to emphatically state that he never signed the purported result, as his signature as appeared on the said result is a deliberate manipulation by Hon. Nelson Godwin Onyilokwu Alapa for his ulterior motive.”
The lawyers said the falsification had caused their client considerable embarrassment, particularly because the disputed document was being presented in ongoing court proceedings as an authentic election result bearing his signature.
They argued that the alleged act had cast doubt on Ochijele’s integrity, professional standing and character before members of the public.
However, they urged the Commissioner of Police to order an immediate, thorough and discreet investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the alleged alteration and manipulation of the election results.
The petitioners also requested that the police examine the original result sheets, the disputed document presented before the Federal High Court and the signatures attributed to the collation officer.
They attached copies of the original results collated from the nine local government areas, alongside the disputed document allegedly presented by Alapa, for the police to examine and use in determining the authenticity of the competing election records.
The lawyers urged the police to investigate the allegations, identify those responsible and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.
The appealed for urgent intervention by the Commissioner of Police, stressing the need to unravel the circumstances surrounding the alleged falsification of the APC Benue South senatorial primary election results.
Alapa Responds, Says Allegations Are Unfounded, Cites Pending Court Case
When contacted by SaharaReporters on Monday, Alapa said he had also just become aware of the allegations and had not received any official communication concerning the petition.
He declined to make detailed comments, arguing that the matter was already before the court and that it would be inappropriate for him to discuss the allegations publicly while the proceedings remained pending.
Alapa, however, described the allegations as unfounded, insisting that he was surprised by the claims.
“I woke up to this news too. I have not got any official indication of what you are saying,” he told SaharaReporters.
“And above all, you know, whatever I say or whatever I don’t say now, I think is sub judice because the case in question is in court. It will not be proper for me to make any impression.”
He further said he was surprised that Ochijele had taken the allegations to the public domain, claiming that the collation officer had already appeared in court and given evidence in the case.
“The allegations are, in my own opinion, unfounded. But I can’t say anything about those things because all whatever he had, I took him to court. I took the party and the second defendants to court,” Alapa said.
“The same person who is making this allegation, Dr. Ochijele, he came to court and gave his evidence. He gave his evidence. I never heard anything. I was there. I never heard anything about forgery of result sheet or whatever.”
Alapa expressed surprise that the matter had now been taken to the court of public opinion and social media, maintaining that he would wait for the court’s decision before making a detailed response.
“I am surprised that he took it to court of public opinion or whatever or social media. So, I don’t think I want to talk about it. I can only say that I will wait until after the court’s verdict. Then I will respond to him,” he added.
