It would be recalled that APC in Kaduna north held its councillorship primary election on March 29, promising to ensure a level playing ground for its aspirants.
The leader of the Congress, Aminu Adam accused some government officials and party stewards of Interfering with the primaries that did not allow the conduct of the election in nine wards.
But in a swift reaction, the State APC Acting Secretary, Yahaya Baba-Pate said there was no single case of irregularities and interference by any government officials in the primaries election.
“The primaries election was free, fair and credible in all the 23 local government areas and the 255 wards of the State. It was conducted by persons of high integrity in accordance with the provisions of the electoral rules and regulations,” Baba-Pate said.
Adam lamented that despite guarantee for neutrality given by the State governor, Nasir El-rufai, some top government officials allegedly interfered with processes of the elections.
Adam, however, maintained, “On the strength of Government’s pledge of neutrality, aspirants duly presented themselves for the contest which was generally expected to be conducted devoid of undue interference or interference from any quarter, especially not from government representatives.
“Contrarily, however, in gross contravention of the guarantee for neutrality given by His Excellency the governor of the state, some top government officials interfered unduly with processes of the elections.
“The interference was so widespread and glaring as not to allow the elections to hold on the scheduled date and on any subsequent date in nine of the 12 wards that make up the Kaduna North Local Government.
“This undue interference that caused the non-conduct of the primaries in these none key wards clearly angered the people and all stakeholders of the party in those places and around the state generally.
“To douse tensions and calm frayed nerves, we petitioned the state governor and copied same to all the security organs in the state, and also petitioned the Appeal committee on APC Local Government Primary Election.
“The petitions articulated the perpetrated irregularities that marred the polls which included non-availability of voting materials such as ballot boxes and comprehensive register.
“Regrettably, several days after the petition, government and party do not appear willing to address the situation which is continuing to stimulate negative sentiments.
“This uncomfortable silence by the state government and all relevant authorities bordering on complicity is what informed our civil protest today(Wednesday) as part of our resolve to press for the conclusive resolution of the matter which potentially threatens the cohesion of the party.
“Unless this matter is judiciously handled, the party stands the risk of suffering electoral losses in the state in view of the growing public discontent with the deliberate disruption of the polls in those nine wards.
“We are hereby calling on the State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai and all party stakeholders in the state to take steps to urgently address the issue in the spirits of the party’s internal democracy principles.
“We remind the governor and all stakeholders that a stitch on time saves nine as we are committed to insisting on redress by pursuing the matter to every level by whatever available legitimate means.”
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