From Mohammed Munirat Nasir, Gusau
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara state has concluded arrangements to drag the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to over the Bakura State Constituency bye election and supplementary election held on 5th and 9th December in Bakura local government area of the state.
This was disclosed by the Chairman APC Publicity Committee, Alhaji Ibrahim Muhammad Birnin-Magaji while briefing journalists at the party state secretariat in Gusau on Thursday.
Birnin-Magaji said despite all written complaints by APC about the irregularities during elections, INEC did not take into cognizance the APC critical role as major stakeholder in the exercise and therefore went solo to finish the dirty job it started and that’s what informed our earlier not to participate in the supplementary election.
“It is pertinent to know that APC and INEC will meet in court of law to sort out things as per Bakura local government state Assembly bye election and supplementary election of 5th and 9th December, 2020 respectively,” he said.
The Publicity committee chairman said when the exercise commenced on the 5th December, there was large scale violence in almost all the 114 polling units and 9 voting points across the local government in order yo instill fear into the innocent eligible voters who turned up to exercise their civic rights.
“In the beginning, things started on a very hood footing because we were carried along in all the issues pertaining the exercise, not until when INEC seemed to have compromised and started to operate as another Zamfara state government agency, doing the bidding of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP),” he alleged.
He said in order to keep the record straight, APC had written several letters to INEC on such incidences and expected it to address it properly before going into supplementary election.
“Though the results of over 30 polling units/voting points in Rink, Birnin Tudu, Bakura and Yargedawards were cancelled during collation exercise by INE.
“It however unilaterally and singlehandedly upturned it earlier verdict and come out with what could be best described as ” random selection” of 14 polling units where it conducted the said supplementary election that produced the PDP’s candidate as the ultimate winner of the exercise, ” he said.