The All Progressives Congress (APC), Bauchi State Chapter, has accused the State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) of plans to compromise and rig Saturday’s Local Government Election.
Chairman of the party in the state, Mohammed A. Hassan, made the allegation in the text of an emergency press conference read by the legal adviser of the party Bartister Rabiu Garba at the party’s secretariat late Friday night.
He alleged that the ruling PDP Government in Bauchi planned to disenfranchise the citizens during the local government council election.
The chairman was accompanied, by top chieftains of the APC in the state, including Senator Shehu Buba (Bauchi South), Barden Gabas and other major stakeholders.
He said that “It is common knowledge that the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) has scheduled to conduct Local Government Elections across the State on 17th August, 2024 pursuant to the Guidelines and Timetable for the Elections as issued by the Commission
“As a political party and critical stakeholder participating in the said election having complied with all the issued guidelines and regulations released by the Commission, the APC has always maintained the firm view of the electorate that elections must be free, fair, credible and in line with the international best practices”.
He said “Thus, we duly purchased BASIEC Nomination Forms to all our candidates in the 20 LGAs of Bauchi State in addition to payment of Tax Clearance levies lump sums of money paid to the Bauchi State Government with full confidence that the elections shall be held in accordance with the law and owing to the fact that the electorates in Bauchi State has confidence in our great Party, APC which stance, create panic in the ruling PDP in Bauchi State”
The APC Chairman alleged that the ruling PDP in the State has compromised security Agencies and ad-hoc electoral officers in all the Polling Units across the State to rig the election.
“The planned rigging of the eleetion was orchestrated as manifested by BASIEC,” Hassan disclosed
“When Chairman of BASIEC, Ahmad Makama, announced the committee the the electoral body to ensure a credible election, we thought there would be proper arrangements that would lead to transparent process and hitch free election,” he stated
“Unfortunately, we have noticed suspicious activities of BASIEC that threaten the integrity of the electoral process as follows:
“As at the moment of less than 12 hours before the commencement of polls tomorrow Saturday, we have observed that BASIEC has failed to provide adequate sensitive and non-sensitive election materials, including sufficient ballot papers and result sheets, at the designated voting centers across the state.
“As gathered from credible sources we have reason to believe that BASIEC intends to announce election results while voting would be in progress, which is unacceptable and a clear attempt to undermine the democratic process.
“Currently our party is unaware of the identities of the presiding officers, collation officers, and returning officers for the election, despite having served the commission with an official Demand Letter in that regard.
“This, in fact, raises serious questions on the transparency and credibility of tomorrow’s election process.
“There has been constant scheming out of the APC in almost all the meetings with critical stakeholders held by the commission concerning the election in question.
“Consequently, we make it point-blank that the APC will not accept the outcome of any election marked by such irregularities and shady elections.
“While condemning plans by PDP to rig the forthcoming election, we call on the BASIEC to ensure a transparent, free and fair election that reflects the will of the people of Bauchi State.
“Anything less will be a disservice to democracy and the citizens of Bauchi State.
“In conclusion, we maintain that our members, including the citizens and security services are watching. We urge the electorate to be very vigilant at this occasion to ensure we have hitch-free local government elections”
