INEC partisan; should have declared election inconclusive, says APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the immediate redeployment of the Kano State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner, Abdu Zango, from the state.

The state APC chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, said this when he presented a petition challenging the outcome of the March 18 governorship election at the state’s INEC office on Wednesday in Kano.

Mr Abbas, represented by the state APC legal adviser, Abdul Fagge, said INEC should have declared the election as inconclusive for some reasons.

“The REC manifestly affirmed the allegations of partisanship, favouritism and rigging against him when on March 20, he connived with the Returning Officer to declare Abba Yusuf of the NNPP as the winner of the governorship election instead of declaring that the election was inconclusive,” he said.

He said the number of voters in polling units where the election was cancelled was 273,442, which was more than twice the margin of the win between the two main contenders in the election, which was 128,897.

‘’The REC and the Returning Officer thereby disenfranchised the 273,442 voters and acted contrary to the combined provisions of section 24,51 of the Electoral Act, 2022, Article 62 of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Election, 2022.

‘’Their action was also contrary to items 4.2.16, Note 32 at page 84 and item 6 of the table at page 93 of the Manual for Election Officials, 2022.

“It is in view of the foregoing that we once again register our loss of confidence in the Kano REC and demand for his immediate redeployment in line with the dictates of the law, impartiality and respect for due process and the rule of law,’’ he said.

INEC had declared Mr Yusuf of NNPP as the winner of the election after polling 1,019,602 votes to defeat Mr Gawuna of the APC, who scored 892,705 votes.

( NAN)