PDP Faults Conduct of Kaduna LG Polls as APC Sweeps All 23 Chairmanship, 255 Councillorship Seats

John Shiklam in Kaduna

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has cleared all 23 chairmanship and 255 councilorship seats in yesterday’s local government election conducted yesterday by the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM).

This is as the Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Edward Masha, described the conduct of the polls as a charade and a disgrace to democracy.

Declaring the results, the chairperson of the commission, Hajara Mohammed, said the elections saw eight political parties participating, with the APC winning 23 chairmanship positions and 255 councillorship positions.

She added that the ruling APC won in Birnin-Gwari, Chikun, Igabi, Ikara, Jaba, Jema’a, Kachia, Kaduna North, and Kaduna South LGAs.
Other local governments won by the APC, according to the Chairman, are Kagarko, Kajuru, Kaura, Kuaru, Kubau, Kudan, Lere, Makarfi, Sabon Gari, Sanga, Soba, Zango-Kataf and Zaria.

“The electoral officers have filed their reports, and at the end of the exercise, 23 won chairmanship positions and 255 won councillorship positions.
“The 23 local government returning officers and 255 wards returning officers have declared the results in their respective constituencies and submitted their results in accordance with the law along side with the presiding officers.

“By the power vested on the commission, I hereby wish to confirm the result earlier collected and returned by the returning officers.
“I am confirming these results as follows; APC won the 23 local government chairmanship positions and the 255 wards councillorship positions across the state,” she said.

Speaking earlier shortly after casting his vote at LEA Kawo polling unit O47 in Kaduna North Local Government Area, the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, expressed satisfaction with the peaceful conduct of the elections across the state.

He noted that the elections have been generally free, fair, and peaceful, with only minor issues reported in three polling units and wards.

The governor emphasised the importance of local government elections, stating that turnout across the 23 local government areas was satisfactory.
On its part, the leadership of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) Kaduna chapter described the election as largely peaceful and transparent, despite the late arrival of voting materials in some places.

Meanwhile, addressing journalists yesterday in Kaduna, Masha said the exercise was a rape of democracy.

He alleged that important election materials, especially ward and local government result sheets, were excluded from the electoral materials.

Masha said the election did not take place, accusing the ruling party of  killing democracy by  undermining the electoral process.

He said: “We were invited by SIECOM to receive sensitive materials from the Central Bank of Nigeria, but upon inspection, we discovered that the result sheets were missing.

“This omission compromised the integrity of the elections, and our representatives stood against the impunity.

“The APC has appointed its chairmanship candidates for the poll, knowing fully well that local government elections are the bedrock of democracy.
“We will not accept this charade. We will not accept the killing of democracy. We will challenge this process in court, and we will continue to seek justice for our people.”

Speaking further, the PDP chairman said the result sheets of 2022 were released instead of new ones.

He maintained that the electoral process lacked transparency as  the election materials were not distributed fairly.

Masha called on lovers of democracy and security agencies to take note of the situation, stating that democracy is gone and “we need to bring this to the public attention and demand justice.”

Masha called on party members and supporters not to be discouraged, saying, “we will continue to fight for democracy and justice.”