From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia
Following the conduct of the local government election in Nasarawa held at the weekend, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed victory in at least 11 out of the 13 local government areas of the state.
The PDP in a press conference which held at the secretariat of the party in Lafia on the outcome of the council polls, state party chairman, Yunana Iliya, claimed that his party won elections in 11 councils namely; Akwanga, Nasarawa Eggon, Lafia, Doma, Obi, Keana, Kokona, Keffi, Toto and Nasarawa.
This is coming even when there has not been an official declaration of the results of the election by the Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC).
Expressing the party’s gratitude to voters from across the state for what he described as “extraordinary support exhibited in the local government election”, Iliya however, lamented that results were not announced as directed by NASIEC at the designated venues.
He alleged that returning officers were not available at the wards to collate and announce the results, which he said was a clear breach of the Local Government Election Law 2012 as amended.
Iliya accused Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura of allegedly adopting “undemocratic principles to orchestrate his plans that this election would be the basis for him to establish the foundation for his 2015 ambition.”
The PDP chairman threatens that any move by the Governor to announce doctored figures “will be met with requisite power of the people. Let him be assured that the PDP in Nasarawa state will stop any action that the Governor will take to truncate our nascent democracy. We are ready to address this illegality frontally.”
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity, dismissed the claims of the PDP chairman as mere ranting of a loser.
“Why don’t they wait for NASIEC to announce the results? They didn’t even campaign because they actually lacked what to tell the people of the state to explain all the years of waste and stealing while they were in control”, he stated.
