Alh. Mukhtar Shehu Idris of the APC having polled 534,541 popular votes, was declared winner of 2019 Zamfara State gubernatorial election, defeating Bello Mohammad Matawalle of the PDP who got 189,452 votes with the margin of 345,089 votes. APC swept the entire 14 LGA’s of the state, winning in all.
However, it was Matawalle, who was later declared winner by the INEC and sworn in as governor after the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, a five-man panel headed/led by the then Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Tanko Mammud, which affirmed the Sokoto Appeal Court judgment and declared APC votes as wasted.
Meanwhile, the APC primary elections in Zamfara State could not be held before the deadline set by INEC, leading to the disqualification of all APC candidates in the state. The election was earlier scheduled for Sunday, September 30, 2018, but then cancelled by APC National Working Committee (NWC) due to the violence that marred the process. The state chapter of APC in Zamfara State, however, announced Mukhtar Shehu Idris as winner of the parallel election organized by the incumbent governor, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, on Sunday, October 7, 2018, in which Idris was said to have polled 310,380 votes, closely followed by Sen. Kabir Marafa with 54,607 votes, Aminu Sani Jaji got 12,039 votes and six others who shared the remaining votes from the total votes.
Before the primary election, APC in Zamfara had two factions of the party exco, one loyal to the incumbent governor; Abdul’aziz Yari and the other loyal to Sen. Kabir Marafa. INEC’s deadline for primaries was October 7, 2018, and APC through the faction of incumbent governor Yari, submitted the name of Idris to the INEC from election which was NEVER supervised/monitored by the Commission and also cancelled by the party’s NWC.
AKWA IBOM State.
Mr Mike Igini, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Akwa Ibom, disclosed in his report submitted to the commission dated May 27, 2022 that APC governorship primary election did not hold in Akwa Ibom state because election committee did not come to the venue.
The report reads in part; the APC governorship primary election of Akwa Ibom state which was scheduled to hold on Thursday, May 26, 2022, at the Sheergrace Arena, Nsikak Eduok Avenue, Uyo, did not hold even though all the Delegates, State Chapter Executives, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, the Commissioner of Police and the State INEC Monitoring Committee were all present at the venue of the election.
Consequently, the INEC was later informed of another primary which held at a different venue. According to a report, the election was held later in the night at one Obot Street and INEC officials did not monitor the exercise. One Akan Udofia, who recently defected to the APC from the People’s Democratic Party was announced winner by APC primary election panel, but INEC maintained it did not monitor that exercise. The REC also said that, it’s not INEC’s responsibility to conduct primary election but to monitor and write it report. We were there, the election committee did not come so we wrote our report and submitted to our headquarters in Abuja.
This development comes amid leadership crisis in the party over factions loyal to Goodwill Akpabio, former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, and John Akpanudoedehe, former National Secretary of the APC Caretaker Committee.
BENUE State.
APC governorship primary election of Benue state was marred with irregularities, process was not followed based on electoral act 2022 and aggrieved parties waited patiently and submitted their complains to the Appeal Committee. The Appeal Committee having gone through their appeals, wrote it recommendation to Abuja (NWC) which finally approved for a rerun.
TARABA State.
Taraba state 2022 APC primary elections unlike Zamfara, Akwa Ibom and Benue states, which cases are quite controversial from factionalized exco, boycotting electoral processes, deny of INEC supervision, exercise marred by irregularities, change of election venues & dates without notifying INEC, failure to hold election but fielding of candidates, while Taraba in the other hand, held it elections on the slated date for the elections, observed every electoral rules and processes and after a fair contest with hundred percent INEC’s present Bwacha and others were declared winners.
After Bwacha’s declaration to be precise, Appeal Committee was sent from APC headquarters Abuja, a three-man committee which stayed in Jalingo for three days and returned to Abuja without receiving any complain from any aggrieved persons, it therefore wrote it report and affirmed the declaration of Bwacha by chairman of the election committee, Hon Lawrence Elochukwu as authentic winner of APC governorship election in Taraba state.
Unlike Benue state which through the complaints filed by aggrieved parties and a rerun was recommended and approved for them, Taraba’s case was quite different, there was no any appeal and no one approach the committee which was sent from Abuja to entertain any matter arising from the primary but instead, the aggrieved persons were seen gallavanting in Abuja.
Zamfara and Akwa Ibom in the other hand, did not conduct any primary and INEC distanced itself from any of such frivolous primaries without it supervision.
Finally, INEC, Police, DSS & APC Appeal Committee reports all showed there were primary elections held in Taraba state and there’s no contradiction whatsoever.
There’s no case, therefore let APC shun the divide and rule strategies of the PDP, put it house in order and start getting ready to taking over Taraba state government house come 2023.
