APC demands Bauchi LG poll cancellation
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party in Bauchi State has won all the 20 local government chairmanship seats in the Saturday local government election.
But the opposition All Progressives Congress in the state rejected the poll outcome, describing it as daylight robbery and demanded its cancellation as well as the immediate resignation of the Chairman of the Bauchí State Independent Electoral Commission, Alhaji Ahmed Makama.
The BASIEC chairman announced the result of the poll on Saturday night.
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, welcomed the outcome of the poll in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mukhtar Gidado.
Gidado said the newly-elected LG chairmen would be sworn in on Sunday at the Government House.
But at a press conference on Saturday, the Legal Adviser of the opposition APC, Rabiu Garba, described the poll as daylight robbery and “murder of democracy.”
Garba, who addressed journalists at the APC secretariat, said, “As we rightly pointed out, BASIEC had no intention of conducting a free, fair, and credible election. What we witnessed today in all the 20 local governments was a deceitful drama and mockery of the innocent electorate and politicians.
The purported election was characterised 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 an official declaration of results, abandonment of election materials at Polling Units by fleeing electoral officers and no voting in most of the Polling Units across Bauchi State.”
The APC demanded the “immediate resignation of Ahmad Makama as chairman of the commission, having failed to uphold the sanctity of his subscribed Oath of Office.
“BASIEC, to immediately cancel the local government’s election purportedly conducted on 17th August 2024 in Bauchi State.
“The Bauchi State Government (should) dissolve the current management of the electoral commission and reconstitute a credible team to conduct a fresh local government election that would be free, fair, credible and in line with the international best practices.”
Meanwhile, it was learnt that some opposition candidates were able to win some councillor seats across the 20 LGAs.
Reports indicated that Samira Maikano of the Young Progressive Party was elected as councilor for Wandi Ward in the Dass Local Government Area where she won with 1,610 votes, defeating Bashir Abdullahi of the PDP, who received 1,352 votes. The APC also garnered 230 votes.
The results were announced by Returning Officer, Nasiru Hassan, at the ward level.
Similarly, in the Darazo Local Government Area, Yunusa Muhammed of the African Action Congress won the Papa North councillorship position with 1,156 votes, defeating Ashiru Muhammad of the PDP, who received 1,053 votes, and Idris Muhammad of the APC, with 290 votes.
Again, in the Bogoro Local Government Area, the Labour Party received the highest votes in the Lusa ward, despite not fielding a candidate.
The LP received 2,200 votes, while the PDP received 2,168 votes, and the APC received 275 votes. And Lucy Yusuf of the PDP, who secured second, was declared the winner by returning officer Daniel Gambo.
