The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has suspended collation of votes for the primary election in Jigawa State over alleged occurrence of violence and malpractices.
The NDA, held that the votes count for the State’s House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, governorship and presidential poll in the state has been put on hold, as informed by the Chief Returning Officer, Zaki Ahmed.
Ahmed, on Wednesday at the Tashir Guests Palace in Dutse, said that unresolved exercise, adding unresolved complaints and irregularities made vote count impossible to continue.
The retired Deputy Inspector General of Police mentioned that results from 19 of the 27 local governments have been received, but Auyo, Roni and Kazaure councils are yet to arrive.
“There were reports of irregularities and malpractice in some local governments, while Gwaram witnessed threats of violence capable of disrupting the process completely,”he said.
“In Guri Local Government, there was no election at all due to conflict among factional leaders of the party. Because of these developments, we have decided to suspend the collation exercise,” Ahmed stated.
Ahmed, however, said that the collation would resume after the Eid-el-Kabir prayers, with party officials expected to reconvene at the same venue by 2pm to continue the process and possibly declare a winner.
An election observer, Dayyabu Musa, said “The suspension followed days of tension and political horse-trading within the party, as rival camps accused one another of attempts to manipulate delegates.
Musa, who said he spent over 48 hours at the collation venue, described the atmosphere as charged, with security operatives drafted to maintain order amid growing anxiety.
He commended party members, security personnel and electoral officials for their cooperation throughout the exercise.
