The All Progressives Congress (APC) has officially rejected the results of the recent local government elections in Bauchi State, citing alleged irregularities.
The outcome of the recently concluded Local Government Election in Bauchi State has been declined by The All Progressive Congress (APC).
All chairmanship seats in the 20 LGAs were declared as won by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) according to a statement released by the State electoral body.
The APC is urging for the prompt resignation of Alhaji Ahmad Makama, Chairman of the State Electoral Commission (BASIEC), and nullification of the election due to their discontent with its outcome.
According to the APC, the election in Bauchi State was an act of blatant robbery against voters and a killing blow to democracy.
The party’s Chairman, Muhammad A. Hassan, announced this during a press conference that took place at the party Secretariat in Bauchi.
“Our chairman emphasized at yesterday’s Press Conference (August 16, 2024) that the APC remains committed to the electorate’s firm belief in conducting elections that are always free, fair and credible according to international standards,” he said.
We prepared ourselves accordingly to take part in the Local Governments election as scheduled for August 17, 2024 by BASIEC. Our actions were lawful, but it turned out that the PDP-led administration in Bauchi State used this opportunity as a political ploy.
Alhaji Ahmad Makama, the chairperson of BASIEC, made a decision to disregard the votes cast by loyal citizens in all 20 Local Government Areas during what was purportedly an election for local government officials.
Yesterday, we correctly noted that BASIEC did not have any plan to conduct an election that is free, fair and trustworthy.
The events that unfolded on August 17 in each of the 20 Local Governments was a deceitful display, and an insult to both innocent voters and politicians alike.
areas.” Various irregularities marked the alleged election, which encompassed insufficient voting supplies, suppression of sensitive materials and result sheets, biased allocation of votes to PDP, nonattendance of Returning officers for official declaration purposes on results. Additionally evident was abandonment by absconding electoral officials at polling units with related material coupled with a lack of adherence in most areas towards holding an election altogether.
Across Bauchi State, there are numerous Polling Units.
These instances are especially noteworthy.
As of this press conference, no elections have been conducted in any polling units or electoral wards within TORO Local Government Area. The election materials remain heavily guarded by security personnel at the BASIEC office. It would be both ridiculous and scornful for winners to be declared by BASIEC for this area given these circumstances.
In the Bauchi Local Government Area, there was thorough monitoring of the election exercise. It resulted in all APC candidates winning at Polling Units with cast votes. Nevertheless, no Returning Officers were present to make valid declarations in front of electorates except for one instance where a returning officer from HARDO Ward of Bauchi LGA was spotted and guarded until he declared MUHAMMAD SALIM AHMED YERO as winner for that specific Electoral Ward under APC candidacy.
There were intentional interchanges of election materials in Tafawa Balewa LGA, leading to an invalidation of the exercise as certain Polling Units received ballots intended for other units within separate electoral Wards.
Moreover, there have been reported cases where PDP agents effortlessly engaged in the act of stealing ballot boxes and extensively marked numerous ballots for their party as well as allocated votes to PDP contenders across all Local Government Areas within Bauchi State.
Considering the aforementioned points, our political party firmly denounces and disapproves of the entirety of the alleged local government elections in question.
It is our belief that the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC), under the leadership of Alhaji Ahmad Makama, bears responsibility for not upholding timely and appropriate measures and neglecting to oppose forces within the PDP Government seeking political control over Bauchi State. This behavior disregards public opinion aligns with their desires instead.
Our position remains unchanged that the alleged local government election is not acceptable and we will explore all legal options to regain our authority and guarantee fairness, consistently.
The APC called for the resignation of BASIEC’s Chairman due to their lack of confidence in the management team and failure to uphold their sworn Oath of Office.
The party firmly requests that the Bauchi State Government disband the current BASIEC management and appoint a trustworthy team to oversee a new Local Government election in accordance with global standards, ensuring freedom, fairness, credibility.
