31 Political Parties in Kaduna to Boycott LG Election …PDP says, we would participate

31 Political Parties in Kaduna to Boycott LG Election

…PDP says, we would participate

Zainab Tanimu

Kaduna, North-west, NIGERIA

Less than 24hrs to the scheduled Kaduna State Local Government Election, a group under the umbrella of Kaduna Coalition Political Parties ((KCPP) have declared their intention to boycott the Kaduna State Local Government polls, billed for Saturday May 12, 2018.

This declaration was made by the group comprising of 31 political parties at a press briefing held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council on Friday.

The text, which was jointly signed by its Chairman, Honourable Umar Ibrahim (Mairaqumi) and its Secretary, Mohammed Inuwa Wada raised some issues of concern.

Among issues raised were,

That  the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission has deliberately refused to adhere to existing laws.

“They refused to make use of the INEC Card Reader Machine for authentication of voters during the election.

“Refused to display the voters register at polling units for voters to confirm their names and eligibility to vote,” the group said.

It further explained that the failure to display the names of aspirants to the public for a minimum period of 19 days in accordance with existing laws is unacceptable.

Concerning the issue of security during the polls, the group said that the security of life and property of their members cannot be guaranteed, based on prevailing conditions in the state.

“The recent utterances by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State Mal. Nasir el-Rufai which placed a bounty on the three distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing the three Senatorial Districts in the state has exposed them to danger and subsequently deprived them and their teeming supporters from exercising their civic responsibility to vote in a free, fair and peaceful election,” the group said.

“It is pertinent therefore, that the Kaduna State Coalition of Political Parties, in the interest of peace and safety of lives and properties of our candidates and the general public, that we have decided to BOYCOTT the forthcoming local government elections in Kaduna State scheduled for 12th May, 2018,” it stated.

They however said that as law abiding citizens, they would continue to frown at all elements of illegality and violation of the electoral laws at appropriate court of law.

Some of the top political parties that endorsed the boycotting are Labour Party, Social Democratic Party and Green Party of Nigeria.

In its  reaction, the People Democratic Party (PDP) has disregarded the call for a boycott. It said in as much as they respect the opinion of the coalition and taken note of their observations, they were going to participate in the election.

The  Kaduna State PDP Chairman, Honourable Felix Hassan Hyet made this known to newsmen  in a press briefing to counter the position of the group.

“The attention of the Party was drawn to the call by a group for boycotting of the Kaduna State Local Government polls scheduled to hold on Saturday May 12, 2018. “We as a party are not part of this, and we call on all our supporters to come out and vote. This decision was not taken with our knowledge,” he said.

Hyet, a former Minister of Aviation explained that the attitude of security officials tomorrow (Saturday) will determine what action their party will take.

“We made our position known and preferred the use of card readers. But since INEC agreed to make the voters register available, we would work with that,” he said.

The PDP Chairman argued that they would not want another excuse for the polls not to hold.