The Gombe State Labour Party governorship candidate, Keftin Amuga, on Wednesday, rejected the March 18 election result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The reports that Muhammadu Yahaya of the All Progressives Congress, who is the incumbent governor, polled 342, 821 to defeat Muhammad Barde of the Peoples Democratic Party, who recorded 233,131 and Khamisu Mailantarki of the New Nigeria People’s Party who scored 19,861.
The Labour Party candidate came a distant fourth with 1,753 votes based on the results announced by Professor Maimuna Waziri, the state’s returning officer.
Amuga, while reacting to the election results in a press statement issued by his campaign office, said they were not what was actually recorded in the field on March 18, 2023.
Amuga said, “The results were manipulated, while the voting was characterised by voter suppression, massive vote-buying, late arrival of staff and sensitive materials, violent chasing away and intimidation of labour party agents.”
The Labour Party candidate disclosed that he would challenge the results in the election petition tribunal and court, pointing out that the legal process to reclaim his “victory” had started.
While hailing his supporters for massively voting for Peter Obi and himself, Amuga urged them to remain steadfast, calm and committed to the ideals of the party.
