All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi has demanded the immediate cancellation of results of Saturday’s local government elections held in the state.
The APC also demanded the Bauchi State Government to dissolve the current management of the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) and reconstitute a ‘credible’ team to conduct fresh local government elections that would be free, fair, credible and in line with the international best practices.
The party’s legal adviser, Barr. Rabi’u Garba in a press conference in Bauchi said that having lost confidence in the management of BASIEC it “unconditionally demand for immediate resignation of Alhaji Ahmad Makama as Chairman of the Commission having failed to uphold the sanctity of his subscribed oath of office.”
Recall that BASIEC has declared all candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as elected chairmen for Bauchi local government areas.
Barr. Garba cited to Toro LGA where he said no election was conducted in any of the polling units, alleging that all the election materials were left at BASIEC office heavily guarded by security personnel up to the moment of the press conference.
The opposition party lamented that, “It is quite ridiculous and scornful for BASIEC to have winners declared in any of the polling units or electoral wards of the entire Toro LGA; while in Bauchi LGA, the exercise was closely monitored. APC candidates won the election in all the polling units where votes were cast”.
He however, he alleged that there was not any presence of returning officers in the Bauchi LGA to make valid declaration of winners in presence of electorates except the returning officer of Hardo ward who was spotted and properly guarded until he declared the APC candidate, Muhammad Salim Ahmed Yero as winner of the election in that electoral ward.
The Legal Adviser who was flanked by the state APC Chairman, Alh. Muhammad Hassan during the press conference, said that in Tafawa Balewa LGA, there were deliberate mix-ups in delivering the election materials as materials meant for some polling units were exchanged with those of other polling units from different electoral wards, which turned the election an exercise in futility.
He added, “We have also seen instances where the PDP agents had a field day in ballot box snatching, massive thumb printing of ballot papers for PDP and votes allocation to PDP candidates across all the Local Governments of Bauchi state”.
The APC therefore condemned and rejected the entire LG elections, saying, “We blame the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) chaired by Alhaji Ahmad Makama for failing to ensure the right thing is done at the right time and for failing to resist the PDP Government in its quest for political dominance against the popular will of the people of Bauchi State”.
APC assured that the party will explore all legal avenues to reclaim its mandate and that the right thing is done always, and commended the people of the state, particularly the law-abiding members of the party whom he said were always peaceful, focused and promoters of democracy and the rule of law.
Garba further explained that APC never relents in upholding the firm view of the electorate that elections must always be free, fair, credible and in line with the international best practices, hence it acted within the confines of the law in preparing well to participate in the local governments elections which he argued, turned out to be a political gimmick of the PDP-led administration in the state.
“We condemn in loud and clear voice the broad-day robbery of franchise and murder of democracy committed by Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) chaired by Alhaji Ahmad Makama who chose to sacrifice the mandate of the people of loyal citizens in the purportedly conducted Local Governments Election across the 20 Local Government Areas of Bauchi state.
“As we rightly pointed out earlier, BASIEC had no intention of conducting a free, fair and credible election. What we witnessed today (Saturday) in all the 20 Local Governments was a deceitful drama and mockery of innocent electorate and politicians.
“The purported election was characterized by all sorts of irregularities including inadequate election materials, withheld sensitive materials and result sheets, votes allocation to PDP, absence of Returning Officers to make official declaration of results, abandonment of election materials at Polling Units by fleeing electoral officers and non-election in most of the Polling Units across Bauchi state”, he added.
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