From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi
The Inconclusive Governorship and State Assembly Elections in Kebbi State has started generating controversy as the APC Chairman Kebbi State publicity Committee for the state Governorship Campaign Alhajl Kabiru Sani Giant has called on the National Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Yakubu Mahmud to urgently remove the Kebbi State election collation officer Professor Yusuf Saidu for alleged bias and sentimental in the just concluded Governorship and State Assembly Elections.
Briefing newsmen yesterday, the chairman publicity Committee, said that the removal of the Collation officer will bring sanity to the re-run of the said elections adding that the APC in the State is not conformable with the Collation officer due to its alliance with the other political parties.
He added that the APC Governorship candidate Dr. Nasir Idris has won the election and is supposed to be declared winner of the Kebbi State governorship election instead of saying it is inconclusive.
“I urged INEC’s Returning Officer Professor Yusuf Sa’idu who on Monday declared the results to be inconclusive due to what he said was cancellation of polling unit results in 20 of the state’s 21 local governments should be changed for the next re-running elections” he said.
Gaint who is also an APC chieftain and National Coordinator of Tinubu/Shettima ST7 2023 said that the results from the election showed that APC’s candidate Alhaji Nasiru Idris, Kauran Gwandu, polled 388,258 while his closest rival, PDP candidate Major General Aminu Bande [retired], polled 342,980 votes.
“There is no need to declare the election inconclusive. Our candidate won fair and square. He is leading with 45,278 votes. In some states, candidates were declared winners when the margin was a fraction of that. There is no need for a supplementary election.
“INEC cancelled election results in some polling units because of overvoting and violence. Remember, the PDP candidate’s wife heads a department in INEC. It was also the PDP that triggered violence in some of the polling units because they know they are our strongholds”, he added.
He explained further that Despite all the PDP machinations, we are still very comfortably ahead. Even if it holds supplementary elections, we are confident of increasing our margin of victory because all the areas where the polls were cancelled are our strongholds.
“I urge INEC to immediately declare our candidate as the winner of the election so that the people of Kebbi State, like those of most other states, will have peace of mind and go about their normal lives,” Malam concludes.
He also called on INEC to investigate the Wife of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Gubernatorial candidate over her role in using fake ballot papers, fake INEC officers ID and other INEC materials which was smuggled in the just concluded Governorship and State Assembly Elections.
He said that based on the information gathered the Peoples Democratic Party Governorship candidate’s wife was a staff of INEC and the INEC was also in her support for irregularities in behaviour.
He insinuated that she collaborated with some staff and used fake INEC election material during the elections, revealing that some printing presses were used in printing the said fake INEC materials.
“We want to use this medium to call on the National INEC chairman to investigate the matter for using some fake election materials, and also they should investigate the INEC Collation officer Prof Yusuf Saidu who is a close friend to the House of Representatives candidate Prof Sabi Danladi Mahuta who lost the election to the APC candidate under Fakai, Danko Wasagu, Zuru and sakaba federal constituency”, he alleged.
He continued: Kebbi State was known as a peaceful state and we have never witness such before, he should not Create a problem and chaos for us, our mission is to promote unity, economic growth and democratic governance in the State and we discover that the INEC Collation officer is bais and sentimental in discharging is duties, we all aware his relationship with the other professor who lost the Election, they are in the same office in Usman Danfodio University Sokoto”.
He therefore pointed out that there was some information circulating around the state that PDP members in the state used fake INEC materials, “and that is why we are calling on the authorities concerned to investigate the matter and prosecute the perpetrators.
The Chairman observed that despite the irregularities committed by the PDP in the state, they still lost the elections to the ruling party, “We are appealing to them if the allegations level against them is true, they should honorably back out of the contest and accept defeat.”
He however, thanked the security agencies, journalists, INEC for the peaceful and successful conduct of the election in the State.
