Katsina PDP rejects bye-election outcome, vows to petition election tribunal

The Katsina State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party has vowed to challenge the results of Saturday’s Katsina North Senatorial zone bye-election. It vowed to take its case to the election tribunal. The state chairman of the party, Salisu Majigiri, made the declaration on Sunday in a telephone interview with our Correspondent. He alleged that the bye-election was fraught with “vote-buying, coercion and other discrepancies,” which he said would be revealed at the election tribunal. Majigiri likened the bye-election to what he said allegedly happened during the recent Ekiti State governorship election, insisting that the development did not augur well for the development of democracy in Nigeria. He said, “We reject the results of the bye-election in totality. The election was fraught with vote buying, using of government officials to coerce traditional rulers , and all sorts of discrepancies that we shall disclose at election tribunal. “What happened at the bye-election was like what happened during the Ekiti State governorship election and all these do not augur well for the development of democracy in Nigeria. “We are challenging the results at the tribunal, as we cannot allow all these to happen in the 2019 general elections.” The Independent National Electoral Commission had, on Sunday morning, declared All Progressives Congress candidate, Ahmad Babba-Kaita, the winner of Saturday’s Katsina North Senatorial Zone bye-election. INEC Returning officer for the election, Prof. Hudu Ayuba-Abdullahi, said Babba-Kaita scored 224,607 votes, while his elder brother of Peoples Democratic Party, Kabir Babba-Kaita, scored 59,724 votes at the election. The Returning officer put total number of registered voters at 864,046, and the number of accredited voters at 308,500. He also put the total votes cast at 294,050, out of which 287,155 votes were recorded as valid and 10,891 as rejected. A total of six political parties contested in the bye election . Other parties and votes recorded as announced by the Returning Officer were Democratic Alliance, 796; Green Party of Nigeria, 1056; Masses Movement of Nigeria, 343 and Mega Party of Nigeria, 633.]]>