Sunday, Gabriel Agabi, a middle-aged man claiming to be a philosophy lecturer at the University of Calabar, was arrested by security operatives at the collation center in Okpoma, Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State. He was allegedly found in possession of 17 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices that were not programmed for the ward where he was arrested, and was wearing an INEC reflective jacket.
Agabi confessed to impersonating the INEC collation officer for Yache ward in Yala Local Government Area of the state, Dominic Abakedi. He also claimed to have been working in collaboration with others from a political party. It was reported that all agents of other parties in that ward were locked up during the election, allegedly by Agabi and his accomplices.
One of the BVAS devices found in Agabi's possession had details indicating that 216 voters were accredited and 250 votes were cast. He had disappeared since the close of voting around 6 p.m. on Saturday and only resurfaced at the senatorial district collation center in Ogoja after 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Agabi was taken to the Ogoja INEC office for interrogation before being handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department unit at the Ogoja Area Command for further investigation. The Commissioner of Police in charge of elections in the district, Zannah Shettima, declined to comment on the matter, stating that he was yet to be briefed.