An aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Kogi central senatorial district has described the just concluded senatorial party primary as a charade that can never be allowed to stand.
Hajia Ramatu said no primaries held and there nocandidate could have emerged.
Addressing newsmen on Tuesday during a press conference, she stated that she disassociated herself from the Kangaroo Kogi central senatorial district primary election held in the 28th of May at Kahal Cinema Okene.
Speaking through her spokesman, Mallam Yusuf Adeku AbdulKadir at a press conference in Lokoja, the aspirant stressed that another aspirant, Alhaji Dalhatu Sheriff and her were never at any time allowed access to the delegates lists.
Her words,” There was no accreditation of the delegates. When we requested for the reason why they were not accredited, we were informed that they have been accredited by their respective local government chairmen. We are still in shock that Alhaji Yahaya Karaku is the returning officer contrary to APC guidelines. This is a gross aberration of the rules,” she said.
She gave example of a female delegate who came to vote and her ballot paper was given to Senior Special Assistance Security Okene local government council Mr. Zubairu Amoka to write the name of the preferred candidate Ohere on behalf of the delegate.
The aspirant said despite her objections to the observed anomalies she was ignored.
“In spite of our insistence that due process must be followed and that the guidelines must be complied with, they failed and refused to acknowledge our protest. Thereafter, we decided to stage a walk out”
Hajia Ramatu revealed that she called to complain to the chairman of the Electoral Committee from the APC Headquarters, who advised that she and her co-aspirant, Alhaji Dalhatu Sheriff should return to the venue of the primary election.
She added that the chairman and the other Electoral Committee members later joined them at the venue hall, noting that their presence made voting to stop temporary
“The chairman of the Electoral Committee tried to mediate between the three of us. While the process of mediation was ongoing, the returning officer and all the other political appointees there present were impatient, She said
“They again commenced voting without waiting for a resolution, this time in a more disorganized manner. All I asked for is a level playing field. Let the people choose who they want. To ensure internal democracy.
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