Kehinde Fajobi
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State has announced that it will not participate in the rerun elections scheduled for Saturday in some Wards across the state.
This decision follows local government elections held on October 9, 2024, where results in 21 Wards were not announced, prompting the need for a rerun.
As the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) prepares for this exercise, the leading opposition party, which has previously expressed dissatisfaction with the election conduct despite winning a few councillorship seats, has chosen to abstain from participation.
In a statement on Thursday in Jos, the state Acting Publicity Secretary of the APC, Shittu Bamaiyi, said, “The Plateau State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress has resolved not to participate in next Saturday’s so-called Local Government Elections re-run in Plateau State. The Party has instructed its supporters to distance themselves from the so-called re-run elections.”
Bamaiyi further explained, “The Party resolved that, since PLASIEC and its paymaster the Plateau State government have no respect to the will and choice of the people as well as the tenets of democracy, there was no reason for the APC to give recognition and also re-validate illegality, under whatever guise. It is ridiculous that the same PLASIEC, which shockingly described the local government elections as transparent, free and fair could come up with re-run elections in some selected Electoral Wards of the State.”
He added, “It could have been neater if the entire elections were nullified based on well-established and genuine complaints arising from the conduct of the elections by some political parties other than the PDP. It will be foolhardy, waste of resources, and a security risk for the APC to further expose its supporters to the so-called re-run because, from all indications, it will be a repeat of what happened last week Wednesday.”
The Party has urged its councillorship candidates and supporters in the affected Wards to disregard PLASIEC’s directives regarding the rerun.
While commending the people of the state, particularly its supporters, for demonstrating their political preferences to the PDP-led government, the APC is appealing for continued calm and peace.