YouTube prank “nominated in Coventry and 10 other constituencies”

Police are investigating a YouTube prankster who signed up to stand in the general election in 11 constituencies, including Coventry South. It comes after internet star Niko Omilana, 26, who is part of British comedy collective Beta Squad, “revealed his latest stunt to his 7.5 million followers on the platform”.

Niko ran for London’s mayoral election in 2021 – and is now running as an independent for a total of 11 seats, the BBC reports. These include Birmingham Perry Bar, Ealing Southall, Dundee Central, Leeds East, Leeds South, North West Essex, Greenwich and Woolwich and Stockton West.

In a video posted on his various social media platforms, Niko said that he has “decided to run for the post of Prime Minister” and will “oust” the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from the political world. The Electoral Commission said it was “an offence” to “provide false information” on nomination papers when applying to stand.

Read more: Coventry mental health football team have an ‘unbelievable’ response.

Niko Omilana has over seven million subscribers on YouTube and millions more on other platforms. He is known for his prank style videos, for example sneaking into the KSI vs Logan Paul boxing rematch and trying to enter the ring.

He also makes fake employee pranks where he pretends to work at retailers including Ikea, Tesco, McDonald’s and Apple, and has done branded deals for Cadbury and Wagamama. He polled almost 50,000 votes in the 2021 London mayoral election, came fifth and tried to stand this year, but was barred as his nomination papers were found to be invalid.

Each of the 11 Niko Omilanas is registered at a different address, with nomination papers signed by different people. The Electoral Commission, which oversees UK elections, said: “We are aware that the same person has been nominated as a candidate in a number of constituencies at the general election.

“It is an offense for a person to provide false information on nomination papers when applying to stand, including falsely confirming that they are not in another constituency. consider.”

In his videos, Niko said: “Rishi Soknacks wants to send young people to war, so I decided to declare war on the system. We will eliminate Rishi and on top of that we have done the impossible.

“We tried to lead Niko Omilana to several places in the country and somehow we managed to do so. My goal is for Niko Omilana to get more votes than anyone else and declare myself prime minister.”

West Midlands Police say they have received the information and are working with the relevant authorities, with North Yorkshire Police adding they have been made aware of a “potential election matter” which is currently being looked into. A Coventry City Council spokesman said: “The penalty for making a false statement is either an unlimited fine in England and Wales, £10,000 in Scotland and/or up to one year in prison.

“If a candidate who knowingly made a false statement on the nomination paper is later elected, the election result could be invalidated by a court process.” The Electoral Commission added that according to electoral law, returning officers must take the data provided in candidate nomination forms at face value and accept them if they meet the requirements. Several attempts were made to contact Mr. Omilana.

Get daily headlines and breaking news delivered to you by email – it’s FREE