PDP accuses APC of rigging Bauchi senatorial by-election

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Bauchi state chapter, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of rigging Saturday’s Bauchi South by-election for its candidate, Lawal Yahaya Gumau.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared APC candidate, Lawal Yahaya Gumau as the winner of last Saturday Senatorial By-election, having scored 119,489 votes, to defeat the PDP candidate, Ladan Salihu and seven others.

Salihu, a former Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), scored 50,256 votes.

Addressing a press conference on Monday in Bauchi, Chairman of PDP in the state, Alhaji Hamza Akuyam said their candidate and the party would head to the Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election.

‎He described the election as the worst in the history of democratic elections in the country.

‎He alleged that there were manipulations, and that “figures were scandalously re-jigged” to favour the candidate of a particular political party.

‎”This was done without any consideration for voters who stood in queues for long; some traveled miles and braved extreme conditions, only to be disenfranchised with a stroke of the pen; this is unacceptable,” he said.

‎He also alleged that vote-buying was widespread and conducted in the open, adding that votes were sold for between N100 and N5000.

‎Akuyam also alleged that about 80,000 votes were unjustifiably canceled in an election where only 256,763 votes were cast, just as he claimed that card readers were not used in a larger part of Toro Local Government Area.