A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Amobi Godwin Ogah, has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), accusing the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, of presenting forged election results during the 2023 Election Petition Tribunal.
Naijaonpoint reports that Ogah, who represents the Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State, alleged that the minister submitted 63 polling unit results that were neither issued nor certified by INEC in an attempt to upturn his victory at the polls.
The petition, dated April 14, 2024, was officially acknowledged by INEC headquarters in Abuja on April 29, 2025. In it, Ogah alleged that the results presented by Onyejeocha bore INEC stamps but were unknown to both the state and national offices of the Commission.
Ogah is the Chairman of the House Committee on AIDs, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
“Media Distraction,” Says Minister
In response, Onyejeocha dismissed the allegations as baseless and an attempt to divert public attention from Ogah’s own legal issues.
Speaking through a media aide, she said Ogah has a pending defamation case related to comments he allegedly made against a judge during the tribunal proceedings.
“All the allegations in the petition are false. They have been trashed long ago. Ogah has a defamation case coming up tomorrow; he accused a judge of collecting bribes from the Minister,” her aide said.
“He knows the court may likely indict him, so this is just media propaganda to distract attention from his own legal troubles.”
Tribunal, Appeal Court Had Dismissed Onyejeocha’s Petition
INEC had declared Ogah the winner of the February 25, 2023 National Assembly election with 11,822 votes, while Onyejeocha polled 8,752 votes.
Onyejeocha challenged the result at the election tribunal in Umuahia and subsequently at the Court of Appeal, but lost at both levels.
In the petition seen by The Guardian, Ogah said he will submit certified copies of both the original and disputed results, alongside relevant court rulings, to support INEC’s investigation.
“I am constrained to write in a bid to make my contribution to the ongoing efforts at sanitising our electoral system,” he stated.
Ogah claimed that he delayed filing the petition in order to gather sufficient material and evidence for a thorough investigation and possible prosecution.
He added that the forged documents were presented during Onyejeocha’s case at the tribunal and insisted that INEC had already issued him a Certificate of Return and certified the original results from the polling units, wards, LGAs, and the iREV portal.