The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vehemently opposed the local government elections held on Saturday in Kaduna State, asserting that the exercise did not take place as claimed.
Voting in the Tudun Wada area of Kaduna South Local Government commenced late, with reports indicating that it began around 3:30 PM, far later than the scheduled start time.
PDP spokesperson Maria Dogo, in a phone interview, stated, “Election materials were taken to local government offices without contacting party agents, and there were no result sheets among the materials. This is unacceptable, and we want to tell the general public that local government elections were not held in Kaduna.”
In response to the allegations, Hajiya Hajara Mohammed, Chairman of the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM), assured the public that measures were in place to prevent the manipulation of election results.
She urged politicians to refrain from inciting violence or spreading hate speech, calling on all political parties to collaborate with the commission to ensure peaceful and credible elections.
A total of 79 chairmanship candidates from 10 political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), were slated to participate in the elections. However, the opposition’s claims have raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process in the state.