The Kaduna State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have kicked as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the March 9 gubernatorial election in the state on the grounds that it was not a true reflection of the votes cast.
Recall that the Returning Officer for the governorship poll in the state, Prof. Mohammed Yahuza Bello declared El-Rufai as the winner having polled 1,045,427 as against the total of 814,168 votes polled by Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru of the PDP.
According to The Punch, the agent of the PDP in the state, Jerry Ishaya, said the party rejected the entire election results because of the electoral body, INEC, manipulated the election results in collaboration with the APC and security agents.
He went on to explain that the agents of the party in seven Local Government Areas of the state – Zaria, Kabau, Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Igabi, Soba, and Lere – made reports to the leadership of the party that card readers were not used. He also accused security agents and INEC officials of conniving to steal the people’s mandate.
He said: “We have formally written to INEC, that card readers were not used in those Local Government Areas mentioned. Our Agents told us how Security Agents overpowered them in some areas. The results were manipulated, in collaboration with the INEC, Security Agents.”
Ishaya was not alone as the Deputy Director-General of the Kaduna PDP Campaign Organisation, Danjuma Sarki, claimed the results announced by INEC was a charade.
Sarki wondered how it was possible that the APC polled almost the same results in both the Presidential and Gubernatorial elections when the turnout in the latter was obviously a lot lower.
He said: “The result was not the true reflection of votes cast. The result of the Governorship elections is more than that of the Presidential, which recorded high voters turn out.”
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