Kaduna LG poll: PDP alleges irregularities, vows legal action

The Kaduna State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Edward Masha, on Saturday, alleged gross irregularities in the local government elections held across the state’s 23 local governments.

The PUNCH Online reports that the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission has confirmed the results of the 2024 local government elections held on October 19, 2024, declaring the All Progressives Congress part winners of the polls.

The SIECOM Chairman, Hajara Mohammed, while declaring the results, stated that eight political parties participated in the elections, with the APC winning 23 chairmanship positions and 255 councillorship positions.

“By the power vested in the Commission, I hereby wish to confirm the results earlier collected and returned by the returning officers. I am confirming these results as follows: the APC won the 23 local government chairmanship positions and the 255 wards councillorship positions across the state,” she declared.
However, Masha, a former Commissioner of Water Resources in Kaduna State, while addressing journalists on the outcome of Saturday’s poll, alleged the exclusion of crucial materials, specifically ward and local government result sheets, from the electoral process.

“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,” Masha said.

Masha accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of killing democracy and undermining the electoral process.
“The APC has appointed its chairmanship candidates for the poll, knowing fully well that local government elections are the bedrock of democracy. But today, they said no. We will appoint chairmen for us like sole administrators by the government,” he added.
He stressed that the PDP would challenge the process in court and continue to seek justice for the people.

“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.”

Masha highlighted several irregularities observed during the elections, including that “ward and local government result sheets were missing from the electoral materials, polling unit result sheets from 2021 were released instead of new ones, and the electoral process lacked transparency, with materials not being distributed fairly.”

“The Kaduna State Government assured us that all electoral materials, including result sheets, would be provided, but the reverse is true,” Masha said, adding, “This is a deliberate attempt to undermine the democratic process.”

Masha said, “Kaduna State is sick, and democracy is gone. We need to bring this to the public’s attention and demand justice.”

The PDP chairman also called on party members and supporters not to be discouraged.
“We will continue to fight for democracy and justice. We will not give up,” he said.