Accreditation of voters at a polling unit during the Saturday by-election in Kano
The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kano state has alleged manipulation in the results of the Tsanyawa/Ghari by-election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Kano.
On Sunday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was announced as winner of the Tsanyawa/Ghari constituency supplementary election for the Kano assembly.
Garba Gwarmai of the APC polled 31,472 votes to defeat Yusuf Maigado of NNPP who scored 27,931 votes.
In a statement by Hashimu Dungurawa, the party’s state chairman, the NNPP acknowledged its strong performance in the Tsanyawa/Ghari re-run and Shanono/Bagwai by-elections but condemned the cancellation of results of 10 polling units.
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Dungurawa described the cancellation as “unacceptable” and accused INEC officials of colluding with “unpatriotic politicians” to declare the candidate of the APC as the winner.
He criticised INEC’s decision to announce the results at its state headquarters rather than the constituency collation centre, which he said facilitated the manipulation.
“While applauding the voters of the respective constituencies, the party wishes to inform the general public that the manipulations orchestrated against the candidate in Tsanyawa/Ghari, the re-run election cannot be condoned,” he said.
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“Therefore, the party rejects the election results of Tsanyawa/Ghari, which was declared at the INEC Headquarters in Kano, while cancelling entirely the ten (10) polling units that the Appeal court nullified and ordered for a fresh election.
“This is unacceptable and completely denied the electorate their rights to vote, after they came out massively and cast their votes largely for the NNPP Candidate.
“This issue is the true show of unpatriotic actions and disenfranchisement of the electorates and stole their mandate; it also discredited the image of the highest electoral body, which is INEC.”
The NNPP vowed to continue fighting against election injustices and manipulation, warning against any attempts to exploit federal authorities to disenfranchise their candidates.
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Dungurawa also praised the peaceful conduct of the Shanono/Bagwai by-election and commended security agencies and constituents for their support.
“We salute the courage of our people who stand with us to come out massively to vote for the NNPP candidates in all the re-run and bye-elections,” the statement added.
