Dissatisfied with the outcome of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) State Congress in Kaduna State at the weekend, a chairmanship candidate, Comrade Danjuma Bello Sarki, has claimed the exercise was fraudulent. The election had produced Edward Marsha as the state chairman.
Addressing a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kaduna State council secretariat, Sarki, flanked by his supporters, described the conduct of the election as nothing but a charade that should not be allowed to stand.
He said, “I am here today to express my sadness and grief over the charade of an election conducted by the Kaduna PDP where due process was murdered for selfish interest as against the interest of the members of the party.
“Obviously, what happened at the trade fair complex; the venue of the State Congress yesterday was nothing, but a fraud and it was in contravention of the constitution and guidelines for the conduct of Ward, Local Government Areas, State, Zonal Congresses, and the National Convention of the Party.
“The mode of the election was to be open-secret ballot in conformity with the constitution and guidelines for the conduct of elections of our great party; the PDP, but instead, some elements within the party who do not wish the party well, especially in Kaduna state manipulated the process, as against the constitution and guidelines of our great party, the PDP.
“However, it is important to make it known to the public that after the accreditation of delegates who by their constitutional right are to vote, but unfortunately, the names of the preferred candidates, especially for the position of the Chairmanship was written at the back of the delegates tags and were threatened and forced to swear to agree to vote their imposed candidate”
He said party leaders, who were behind the alleged fraud, allowed unaccredited persons to infiltrate the venue, seize ballot papers from the delegates and write the name of their preferred candidate on the ballot papers as seen in a particular video in circulation.
The chairmanship candidate said at some point, the venue became rowdy and disorderly with people who had no business being there, causing confusion and making it “easy for the manipulators to carry out their dirty job.”
“It is very unfortunate, and without mincing words, I can say categorically clear that what happened at the State Congress of PDP in Kaduna yesterday was nothing, but a rape on democracy, and an abuse of the constitution and guidelines for the conduct of state congresses of the PDP by anti-democratic forces who are bent on keeping our part out of power, hence the reason for my walk out before the end of the voting exercise.
“Simply put, I was not defeated in a free, fair and credible election, rather I was rigged out, being the reason for this Press Conference in order to put the record straight, and to make it known to the public that the election (State Congress) was not transparent, and did not go in the manner it should be”.
He said, it is very unfortunate that despite being in the opposition for about a decade and having suffered three consecutive defeat in the gubernatorial elections, the party leadership could not see reason to conduct free, fair and credible election to usher in a credible leader with the capacity to wrestle power from the ruling APC in Kaduna State come 2027.