Irked by the outcome of the council polls, the Labour Party (LP) in Kaduna State has rejected the results of the recently held local government elections in the state, vowing to seek justice through the courts.
In a statement by the Chairman of the Labour Party Caretaker Committee, Elder Yusuf Solomon Danbaki, the party alleged that the October 19, 2024, election never took place as announced, calling it a calculated act of electoral fraud.
The LP accused SIECOM of deliberately withholding crucial election materials such as ballot boxes and result sheets in many polling units, rendering the election process non-existent.
The party also claimed that SIECOM had imposed illegal fees on candidates, requiring chairmanship candidates to pay ₦2 million and councillorship candidates ₦500,000 despite the agency already being funded by the state government.
Danbaki alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates were not chosen through democratic primaries but were handpicked by the governor, raising concerns about internal democracy and the future of electoral integrity in Kaduna State.
“This lack of internal democracy is another indicator that puts our democracy in danger,” he said.
The Labour Party also criticised the SIECOM chairperson’s conduct during the announcement of the results, describing her as visibly distressed, which suggested she was under pressure to announce the fraudulent results.
In the statement, the party listed several demands, including the nullification of the election results, the investigation of illegal fees imposed on candidates, and a fresh election conducted under fair and transparent conditions.
They also called on the judiciary to uphold justice for those whose rights were violated and announced plans to file a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the results.
The Labour Party vowed to launch a public awareness campaign to inform citizens of their rights and to protest the alleged electoral malpractice.
They urged civil society organisations and international bodies to join in condemning the actions of SIECOM and called for immediate electoral reforms to prevent further erosion of democratic values in Kaduna State.