PDP, Offa Group Call for Total Cancellation of Local Govt Councils Poll in Kwara

Hammed Shittu

Furore over the outcome of the last Saturday local government council poll in Kwara State has continued as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called for the total cancellation of the election.

The party, however, called for fresh election or else the electoral body would be made to face legal action to restore the stolen mandate of the people.

Also, a group of community leaders in Offa in Offa Local Government Area of the state led by Alhaji Abdullatif  Kunle Ajeigbe has flayed the outcome of the election, describing it as a mockery of democracy.

However, a statement issued in Ilorin yesterday by the PDP, which was signed by the state party Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olusegun Olusola Adewara, also described the local government councils poll as a “desecration of democracy, a waste of taxpayers’ money and an elevation of fraud to heights never witnessed before in the state.”

The party accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) under Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of connivance with the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) to manipulate the local government election and subvert the people’s will.

The party called for the immediate cancellation of the election and a conduct of a fresh poll, or it will explore legal means to restore the stolen mandate of the people.

It, however, called for a properly constituted tribunal to be headed by a Judge of the High Court, as required by the law, rejecting the one set up by the Abdulrazaq administration for falling short of constitutional stipulation.

Adewara berated KWASIEC for allowing itself to be used in the conduct of a shoddy election, which denied over 85 percent of the electorate their right to vote in polling units across the 16 local government areas of the state.

The PDP added that: “Contrary to the declaration by KWASIEC that the APC won, the PDP won in the few areas where the election was held, but it was cancelled, and officials were forced to announce the APC candidates as the winners.

“Where elections were held, the people massively voted for PDP candidates, and in several instances, they were declared winners before KWSIEC officials reversed these victories in a shocking display of impunity.

“In Kwara Central and parts of Kwara North, particularly in Patigi LGA, PDP candidates won resoundingly.

“KWASIEC officials validly sorted, counted, and declared our candidates victorious, with some of these moments captured and shared on social media.

“However, these victories were magically overturned. The results, which were declared in favour of PDP candidates in places like Ilorin West, Ilorin South, Ilorin East, and Asa LGA, were manipulated, with cooked-up figures announced to favour APC candidates.

“The case in Patigi LGA was particularly shameful. The Electoral Officer (EO) was kidnapped by the APC thugs, forced into a room, and made to declare PDP’s results invalid under duress.

“The situation was the same in Kwara South senatorial district, as electorate across almost all polling units refused to allow voting, due to the failure of KWSIEC to provide election result sheets and complete ballot papers.

“In the Kwara South district, elections did not take place in Offa, Oyun, Irepodun, Ifelodun, Ekiti, and Oke Ero local government areas.”

Also, the group of community leaders described the last Saturday poll as a sham against true democracy.

Speaking at a press conference in Offa, the leader of the group, Chief Abdullatif Kunle Ajeigbe, stated that the outcome of the poll would hinder true financial and administrative independence for local councils in the state as against the Supreme Court ruling.

Ajeigbe, however, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to ensuring that local government areas in Kwara State and across Nigeria are given the financial and administrative independence necessary to meet the needs of the people.

“The autonomy of local government areas is not just a political issue, it is essential to the proper functioning of our democracy and the development of our communities,” he added.