A senatorial aspirant in the recently conducted All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election in Kogi Central, Hajia Ramatu Tasalla Shehu, has called for the cancellation of the exercise.
Shehu made the call at a press conference in Lokoja on Tuesday.
She said what happened at the venue of the primary election can only happen in the animal farm, insisting that there was no primaries conducted in the district.
The female aspirant dissociated herself from what she described as a ‘kangaroo primaries’.
Hajia Shehu said she would head to the appeal committee, urging APC to be prepared to a fresh primary election in Kogi Central senatorial district.
She pointed out that the choice of a political appointee, Alhaji Yahaya Karaku as the returning officer breached the rule, making the election unlawful and unconstitutional.
Represented by Yusuf Adeko Abdulkadir at the press conference, she said there was no accreditation of delegates, describing results published in the social media as fictitious, imaginary votes.
”There was no accreditation of the delegates. When we requested for the reason why they were not accredited, we were informed that they have been accredited by their respective local government chairmen.
“We are still in shock that Alhaji Yahaya Karaku is the returning officer contrary to APC guidelines. This is a gross aberration of the rules.
“As soon as the voting was meant to start, a female delegate came forward and collected the ballot paper and walked to Senior Special Assistant on Security, Okene local government council, Mr. Zubairu Amoka to start writing out the names of the preferred candidate, Abubakar Ohere, on behalf of the delegates which they objected to. But we were ignored.
“In spite of our persistence insistence that due process must be followed and that the guidelines must be complied with, they failed and refused to acknowledge our protest. Thereafter, we decided to stage a walk out in protest.
“Upon reaching outside, I called the chairman of the electoral committee from the APC Headquarters, he advised that we return to the venue and I immediately called Alhaji Dalhatu Sheriff to join me. He arrived, and we waited outside for the committee to arrive as well. The chairman and the other electoral committee members joined us and we left back to the venue hall.
“At this point the voting stopped temporary. The chairman of the electoral committee tried to mediate between the three of us. While the process of mediation was ongoing, the returning officer and all the other political appointees there present were impatient. They again commenced voting without waiting for a resolution, this time in a more disorganized manner.
“All I asked for is a level playing field. Let the people choose who they want. To ensure internal democracy,” she said.
She called on her supporters to remain calm, assuring that the primary election cannot stand.
