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-as El-Rufai assures of credible election
PDP kicks,alleges foul play
By Ibrahim Wuyo, Kaduna
As the Local Government election took place in 19 Local Government Areas in Kaduna State on Saturday,there were complaints of low voter turnout, Electronic Voter Machine ( EVM) malfunction and late arrival of election officials in some polling units from across the Local Government Areas.
However, the police and other security operatives were positioned at strategic places where they monitored the election, without recording any major crisis.
The pocket of crisis in some polling units were insignificant and did not affect the conduct of the elections.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai who voted at the Ungwan Sarkin polling Unit 1 in Kaduna North Local government area ,observed the low turnout of voters and urged the electorate to come out and vote for people of their choice.
The Governor said there was a significant improvement in the process compared to the LG election in 2018.
El-Rufai reiterated his administration’s commitment to a free and fair election in the state,saying “we are not going to behave like other parties or other state governments of the ruling party. We will allow the people of Kaduna State to elect who they want. We do not have to win everywhere, though we have worked for the people of Kaduna State, they have seen our footprint, the government and the local government everywhere, they have seen, and we are confident that all reasonably minded people will vote for our party, our candidates because they know we are committed to the welfare of the people”.
“We don’t believe in cheating, we don’t believe in rigging election, but also we don’t believe that other people should cheat us. That is why we encouraged SIECOM to come up with a very improved system and am impressed with the whole thing”.
He said “technology is key to minimizing cheating in elections ,unless we have a credible election, we can never have good leaders, accountable leaders, and that is why we are committed, even if it means we are going to lose in some areas, this is a democracy, it is a gradual process,” he said.
Commenting on the conduct of the elections, and Electoral Officer in Kaduna North said they commenced distribution of election machines as early as 5:30 a.m ďue to the size of the LG and things have gone smoothly.
He however said operating the machines posed some challenge as people thought the same machine that was used in the 2018 elections will be used during the Saturday election.
Meanwhile,the Peoples Democratic Party( PDP) in the State has alleged that irregularities marred the council polls.
Speaking at a press conference,the Public Relations officer of the party , Mr. Abraham Alberah Catoh and Dr. Abdul rahman Usman, accused the state election body of favouring the APC.
The PDP alleged that the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) had pre-set the electronic voting machines to favor the APC.
They said they would not accept the election results to be declared by the SIECOM as the results would be full of mistakes.
“The election was arranged in such a way as to give APC advantage over other parties,” they alleged.
The post Low voter turnout, EVM malfunction, others, mar Kaduna LG polls appeared first on Vanguard News.
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