Drama as the All Progressives Congress (APC) has withdrawn from the Wednesday Bakura State Constituency bye election rerun in Zamfara state over what it described as the biasness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The withdrawal was announced by the Chairman Publicity Committee APC Zamfara state, Alhaji Ibrahim Muhammad Birnin Magaji while addressing journalists at the APC state secretariat in Gusau shortly after the meeting of the party.
“All Progressives Congress APC in Zamfara state is hereby informing members of the general public that it will not participate in the said supplementary election,” he said.
Birnin Magaji said after intimating INEC about its fears, the party forwarded a suggested to the commission on the need to shift the exercise to a more convenient date, so that all the issues arising from the Saturday’s election be well well addressed but unfortunately INEC still went ahead to conduct the election on 9th December.
The Chairman of the publicity committee said APC as a party has reviewed the issues pertaining the supplementary especially the securing of lives and property of the electorates in the affected 14 polling units where the exercise will be conducted.
“Our representatives had attended the meeting organized by INEC at its Gusau Zamfara state office on Monday 7th December to fine tune the measures put in place for the conduct of the said supplementary election.
” The meeting which was supposed to be attended by the security agencies in the state because of their pivotal role as critical stakeholders in the exercise neither their heads nor their representatives attended the meeting, ” he said.
He said the Saturday’s bye election in Bakura local government area was characterized by intimidation, harassment, maiming and large scale violence which culminated in the snatching ballot boxes, kidnapping of electoral officials and killing of innocent people by the members of the members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their hired security agencies and thugs.
Birnin Magaji said all the issues being raised by the APC was corroborated by INEC itself in its press release issued by the National Commissioner, and Chairman Information and Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye dated 6th December.
“The action left the citizens of the area where the election took place very devastated, disenchanted and disenfranchised,” he said.
