28th February, 2019
A Coalition of Political Parties in Zamfara has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel last Saturday’s National Assembly (NASS) elections held in the state.
Spokesman of the coalition and governorship candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state, Alhaji Sani Shinkafi, said the call had become necessary because the entire election was marred by irregularities.
He accused INEC officials and security agencies in the state of conniving with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government in the state to deny voters right of choosing their candidates.
According to him, only the state APC Chairman and Secretary, Messrs Lawali Liman and Sani Mono, respectively, and some security agents met exclusive of other stakeholders meetings ahead of the 2019 general elections in the state, especially at the police headquarters,
“We have evidence of ballot boxes snatching, ballot paper stuffing, vote buying in all the polling stations across the state.
“Deliberate refusal by the Resident Electoral Commissioner to release to our party the list of wards, polling units affected by insecurity across the 14 local government areas of the state” was another factor, he said.
The spokesman also alleged “manipulation, alterations and allocation of results by the ruling APC in connivance with INEC officials, security agents and local government sole administrators to subvert the true aspiration of our people”.
“The INEC Chairman should as a matter of urgency inquire into the activities of the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Zamfara state and its staff with respect to late distribution of Election Materials to Local Governments Areas, Wards, Polling Stations in all the 14 local government areas, 147 wards, and 2,516 polling stations, respectively,” Shinkafi urged.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the APGA governorship candidate, who is also the Wamban Shinkafi, had during his campaigns endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari’s candidature and urged his supporters to vote for the APC presidential candidate.
NAN also reports that Shinkafi local government area was among the areas of the state where the APC received massive votes at the presidential election.