By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Widespread allegations of vote buying and voter intimidation were reported across several polling units during the Kaduna State federal constituency by-election held on Saturday.
Our correspondent gathered that agents suspected to be supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were accused of inducing voters with cash, while security operatives allegedly intimidated electorates in some polling units in Ungwan Boro and Duse, Chikun Local Government Area.
The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through its agent in Sabon Tasha ward, Emmanuel Yakubu, confirmed the incidents at Polling Unit 84, Ungwan Boro.
Yakubu alleged that APC supporters were giving voters between ₦3,000 and ₦5,000 behind the scenes. He also claimed that some voters were being called from their homes by phone and invited to vote in exchange for cash.
He lamented that “voters were being lured from every corner by APC supporters and handed money openly before casting their votes,” adding that this was done under the watch of security operatives.
At Boro Primary School, Philolo Duse, and Foresight School polling units, cash handouts were also reportedly observed, with some party supporters seen distributing money to potential voters.
While PDP agents complained bitterly about the APC’s alleged vote buying, no APC agents reported irregularities against opposition parties. At Foresight School polling unit, some agents even described the exercise as “normal and peaceful.”
Voting was reported to have commenced between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. in most polling stations visited under Sabon Tasha ward, though the exercise witnessed low turnout in several areas.
At Ungwan Boro Primary School, which hosted Units C30 and C31, a black-tinted Jeep with a concealed plate number—suspected to belong to a vote buyer—was reportedly seen with police escort. Witnesses alleged that an APC supporter carrying cash alighted from the vehicle and distributed money to voters gathered at the back of the school building near the entrance gate.
Around 11 a.m., a convoy of heavy vehicles, believed to belong to APC coordinators, stormed the voting centre. Eyewitnesses claimed bundles of cash were sighted in the hands of one of the men who stepped out of the vehicles.
In some polling centres, many voters were seen waiting for parties to pay them before casting their ballots, while only a few joined the queue to vote voluntarily.
One voter told our correspondent: “I’ll rather take the money home without voting. I won’t cast my vote unless it is bought.”
As of 2:40 p.m., at Foresight School polling unit in Ungwan Boro with 500 registered voters, only about 50 had been accredited. Meanwhile, journalists attempting to photograph a Jeep suspected to be carrying cash at Ungwan Boro Primary School polling units were reportedly blocked by police officers.
