The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised serious allegations of violence, intimidation, and irregularities in the Zamfara State House of Assembly bye-election held on Saturday in Kaura-Namoda South Constituency.
According to a report by Mediaplusng.com, the party accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of working with security agencies and bandit warlords to scare voters and disrupt the exercise. The PDP alleged that voters were threatened with death if they voted for the opposition party.
The Chairman of the PDP in Zamfara State, Dr. Jamilu Magayaki, addressed a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Gusau, where he claimed that APC colluded with military personnel to harass voters. He alleged that heavily armed soldiers were stationed at polling units, intimidating, assaulting, and chasing away PDP supporters and agents.
Mediaplusng.com reports that Dr. Magayaki further alleged that ballot papers were hijacked in Sakajiki Ward, while election results were manipulated in the absence of party officials. He stressed that the deployment of soldiers inside polling centres contravened the Electoral Act, which mandates security operatives to maintain a reasonable distance from voting points.
Despite the tension, the PDP urged its supporters and the general public to remain calm, expressing optimism that justice will prevail in the rerun declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC had earlier declared the Zamfara bye-election inconclusive due to vote cancellations in five polling units across two political wards.
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