Alleged Election Charade: PDP Candidate Rejects Kaduna Local Government Election Results
A senior member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Yunusa Yusuf, has strongly criticized the recent local government elections in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Yusuf, who ran as the PDP chairmanship candidate in Kagarko Local Government Area (LGA), claimed that the elections were a sham.
In a press conference, Yusuf alleged that the elections did not take place in any part of Kagarko LGA, contrary to the claims of the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM). He expressed his astonishment that the electoral body declared the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the election across all 23 local governments in the state.
Yusuf pointed out that, historically, no single party has won all local government elections in Kaduna State since the country’s transition to democracy. He argued that this fact, combined with the alleged lack of elections in Kagarko LGA, shows a clear lack of integrity on the part of both the state government and KAD-SIECOM.
In his words, “It is laughable that the state electoral body went ahead to announce the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the election across all 23 local governments, despite the fact that elections did not hold in any part of Kagarko LGA.” Yusuf also accused the state governor, Uba Sani, and KAD-SIECOM of lacking integrity for making such claims.
The PDP chairmanship candidate claimed to have audio and video evidence to support his allegations, including footage of hired individuals thumb-printing ballot papers and the state governor being booed at his polling unit. Yusuf called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the national assembly to intervene in the matter, citing concerns about the country’s democratic process.
Furthermore, Yusuf argued that the federal executive council and the national assembly should withhold local government allocation to the state government, given that the elections did not take place. He stated that he would not challenge the election results at the election tribunal, citing the lack of elections in Kagarko LGA.
The allegations made by Yusuf have sparked concerns about the credibility of the local government elections in Kaduna State. As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how the national assembly and the presidency will respond to these claims and whether they will take action to address Yusuf’s concerns.
