A high-stakes political scandal has sent shockwaves through the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as evidence emerges of a sophisticated plot to subvert the will of the people in the Kogi West Senatorial primary elections.
At the center of the storm are two powerful figures: Hon. Yetunde Adeniji, the Senior Assistant to the President on Student Education, and Hon. Abdullahi Dollars, the former Kogi State Chairman of the APC. The duo stands accused of masterminding a forgery scheme to manipulate election return sheets, involving the unauthorized use of the President’s name to validate a fraudulent outcome.
Investigations by *The OBSERVERS TIMES * reveal that the May 18th Senatorial election panel was allegedly compromised from within. Yetunde Adeniji, a long-term ally of former Governor Yahaya Bello and a recurring fixture on Kogi’s election panels, served as the Secretary of the May 18th committee.
Sources close to the panel allege that Adeniji, acting in concert with Abdullahi Dollars, bypassed official protocols to “privately procure” a second, unauthorized return sheet. While the primary election was intended to be a transparent exercise in internal democracy, this shadow document was allegedly used to manufacture a victory for aspirant Sam Aro, effectively discarding the actual votes cast at the grassroots level.
The most audacious element of the plot involved a high-pressure deception aimed at silencing dissent within the panel. It is reported that Adeniji and Dollars approached other panel members with a startling claim: that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had personally intervened in the Kogi West race.
The duo allegedly claimed that following a strategic visit by the incumbent Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo, to the President in Lagos, an executive order was given to “adjust” the results in favor of Sam Aro.
However, high-level sources within the Presidency have debunked these claims. “The President never gave such a fraudulent approval,” a source stated on condition of anonymity. “The President is committed to the rule of law and internal party democracy. To use his name as a shield for forgery is a grave offense against the administration.”
The plot began to unravel during a forensic review of the submitted documents. It was discovered that the “manipulated” return sheet was a patchwork of falsified entries.
Crucially, every signature on the document—belonging to various panel members and observers—was found to be a forgery, with one glaring exception. The only authentic signature on the fraudulent sheet belonged to the Secretary herself, Yetunde Adeniji. This “smoking gun” suggests a localized operation where the Secretary provided the veneer of officialdom to a document that was otherwise entirely fabricated.
The revelation has sparked outrage among APC stakeholders in Kogi West, who describe the act as a “civilian coup.” Many are now calling on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC and the Presidency to take immediate disciplinary action.
“This is not just about a senatorial seat; it is about the integrity of our party’s institutions,” said a senior party chieftain in Lokoja. “If a Presidential Aide can be implicated in the forgery of primary results, what does that say about our commitment to the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda?”
As of the time of this report, Hon. Yetunde Adeniji and Hon. Abdullahi Dollars have not released official statements regarding the allegations. However, the pressure is mounting for a full-scale investigation by the party’s disciplinary committee and potentially the security agencies.
The Kogi West primary remains a flashpoint of tension, and this latest development promises to reshape the political landscape of the state as the general election cycle approaches.
