By Abba Kabara
Zamfara governorship candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi has called for the immediate removal of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) Dr. Asmau Maikudi before the time for governorship elections.
Shinkafi alleged that on the eve of the general elections, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, security agents including the police and the state leadership of the APC met in the office of the police commissioner without the representatives of any political party as a pre-election collaborative plan to rig election in favour of the APC ruling party.
He said despite his capacity as the candidate of one of the leading party in the state, “as I went to see the police commissioner to lodge a complain, he blocked me and reject me from entering his office” he alleges.
The APGA guber candidate further narrates that the commissioner of police later delegated his deputy to “address us while he and the state factional APC chairman Alhaji Lawali Liman, his secretary, the electoral commissioner and some security agents remain in the commissioner’s office” he stressed.
Shinkafi said on the premise of this open collaborative hatched plan for rigging, “we have every reason to call not only for the removal of the police commissioner and the state REC, but the whole election for the federal legislature must be cancelled” he said.
“we lost confidence in the state Resident Electoral Commissioner Asma’u Maikudi as well as the commissioner of police because we believe they will not be fair and just to other political parties as they will twist the elections in favor of the APC ruling party” shinkafi claims.
He alleged that the whole process for the conduct of the elections in the state was grossly marred with irregularities, late distribution of election materials, a situation which was further worsened by almost 80% below the supply of the needed supply of result sheets to collation centres.
Shinkafi stressed that his party has various evidences of flagrant electoral malpractice perpetrated by the REC and security agents, particularly as regards indiscriminate snatching of ballot boxes, ballot stuffing, votes buying in almost all the polling units across the state.
He also alleged that there are incidences of gross manipulation of results in several polling units as many recorded results were announced outside the polling premises against the rule that such should be announced a right at the polling locations.
