By Musa Baba Adamu
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has vowed to challenge the outcome of the Nasarawa North Senatorial District by-election in court, alleging that a series of electoral irregularities undermined its participation in the poll.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the party’s Nasarawa State Publicity Secretary, Danjuma Joseph, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of failing to properly represent the party on key election materials used during the exercise.
According to the NDC, the logo displayed on the ballot paper was not its officially recognized symbol, a situation the party said may have misled voters and affected its electoral fortunes.
The party further alleged that its logo was omitted from result sheets used during collation and that there was no designated space for NDC agents to sign election documents at ward, local government and state collation centres.
Joseph claimed that the alleged discrepancies contrasted with the logo reportedly used by INEC for the party during a by-election conducted in Enugu State on the same day.
The opposition party also raised concerns over the operation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), alleging that technical failures were recorded in several polling units.
In addition, the NDC accused election officials of manipulating and mutilating results in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), although it did not provide specific evidence to substantiate the claim.
Maintaining that the integrity of the election had been compromised, the party rejected the declared outcome and announced plans to seek legal redress.
“We do not recognize the outcome of the Nasarawa North by-election and will pursue all lawful means to defend our democratic rights and the mandate of our supporters,” the statement said.
Peoples Daily reports that the by-election was held to fill the vacant Nasarawa North Senatorial seat following the death of former senator Godiya Akwashiki.
As of the time of filing this report, INEC had not responded to the allegations raised by the NDC.
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