THE member representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, on Wednesday, described the parliamentary elections held in Kaduna State on Saturday as “a charade and a fraud.”

Sani, who contested the elections on the platform of the People’s Redemption Party, said in a statement he issued in Kaduna that the polls were “characterised by ballot stuffing, thumb-printing, over-voting, outright falsification of result and vote allocation.”

He said, “In over 85 per cent of the polling units, the card readers failed and there was no due process in the use of the permanent voter cards. Bandits also ravaged Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Igabi and other rural locations. Figures were simply added to result sheets.

“Public resources were also used to massively buy votes. In fact, the National Assembly elections in Kaduna State were an industrial scale fraud. It was not a triumph of people’s will but a triumph of ‘scampish’ vote buying and manipulation.”

While calling for its outright cancellation, Sani said, “When an election is free, fair and credible, it’s morally right for those who lost to humbly congratulate those who won but when an election is rigged, those who won should only expect calls from the Courts and not from the candidate.”

He said, “As for now, No phone call and no congratulations to the fraudulent polls in Kaduna Central. Those who dope don’t deserve sportsmanship. The spirit of sportsmanship cannot be exhibited in an arena built with bricks of fraud.

“The Presidential election in Kaduna State was free, fair and credible but the National Assembly elections were deliberately manipulated to favour unpopular candidates of the ruling party.

“There was prompt and adequate supply of voting materials for the presidential election but that of the National Assembly was systematically undermined to achieve a predetermined result.”

He, however, said the result of the election would not “deter or defer our spirit to stand for justice or speak the truth to power or cast a light of truth in the grey areas of governance or freedom. Our ideals, principles and beliefs cannot be shaken by polls outcome.”

However, his challenger and the newly elected senator for the Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Dr. Uba Sani has promised to be a ‘true representative’ of his constituency and the state in the 9th Senate of the National Assembly.

Sani, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, defeated incumbent senator with 355,242 votes at the just concluded poll.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Lawal Adamu, scored 195,497 while Sani of the PRP, came a distant third with 70,613 votes.

The senator-elect told one of our correspondents in Kaduna on Wednesday that he would be glad to meet the PRP candidate at the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal whenever he files his suit.

He said he was even surprise that Shehu Sani , who contested on the platform of the PRP which had no structure anywhere in the state, could garner as much as 70,613 votes at the polls.

He alleged that the incumbent was rejected by the people because he turned the red chamber into a “popularity test” chamber.

He said, “The people have spoken. Our people spoke very loudly and decisively. The message is crystal clear: Uba Sani is our choice for the 9th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” – Punch

– Feb. 27, 2019 @ 17:25 GMT |