FROM RAHILA ABDULLAHI, KADUNA
African Democratic Congress, ADC, and its coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in Kaduna State have accused the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government of mobilising over 4,000 thugs to sabotage the August 16 bye-election.
They also accused the state government of securing more than ₦5.2billion in funds to influence and disrupt the forthcoming bye-election.
Addressing a press conference in Kaduna yesterday, the Chairman of ADC, North West, Jafaru Sani, alleged that the thugs were drawn from within and outside the state.
Sani claimed that the thugs have been positioned at polling units, collation centres and political hotspots to intimidate voters.
ADC alleged that individuals with a record of electoral violence are in charge of election operations and that senior officials in Giwa, Soba and Zangon Kataf are plotting attacks on opposition rallies.
This is just as the opposition parties claimed that ₦4.8 billion from Abuja, along with compulsory contributions of ₦30 million from each of the state’s 23 local government councils, is being used to compromise security agencies, bribe electoral officials, and sow chaos during the polls.
The opposition urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to be neutral and remove compromised personnel and replace them with neutral staff to protect the credibility of the electoral process.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna state government in its response, described ADC and SDP as equally confused bedfellow, who are already aware that the good people of Kaduna State have decisively rejected them.
A statement released by the Commissioner of Information, Ahmed Maiyaki, explained that the opposition, in the face of imminent defeat, have resorted to concocted tales of “vote-buying” and “thug recruitment” to pre-emptively discredit an election they know they cannot win.
According to Maiyaki, “let it be clear: Kaduna State government has no hand whatsoever in the conduct of elections. That responsibility belongs exclusively to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which is fully capable of defending its processes and integrity.
