The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate for Zamfara Central, Hon. Ikra Aliyu Bilbis, has urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to cause the announcement of the February 25, 2023 Senate election in the senatorial zone.
He made the plea in a petition sent to INEC, a copy of which was obtained by Blueprint, Monday in Abuja.
Bilbis said he polled a total of 93,120 votes to beat his closest opponent of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 79,444 votes, and expressed shock that the INEC Collation Officer, Professor Ahmad Galadima, could declare the election inconclusive and proposed a supplementary election, which he said, was contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act 2022.
Bilbis, a former Minister of Information and Communications, said elections took place in the four local government areas, namely; Gusau, Tsafe, Bungudu and Maru that made up the senatorial district.
“After the election, I scored a total of 93,120 votes while my closest rival of the APC scored 79,444 votes. Surprisingly, while the good people of my Senatorial District were eagerly waiting for the declaration of the result, the INEC Collation Officer, Professor Ahmad Galadima declared the election inconclusive and proposed a supplementary election.
“In his press release, he declared that 74 polling units from 19 registration areas with a total of 43,881 collected Permanent Voters’ Card as affected and the supplementary election would be conducted on a date to be communicated by the Commission.
“According to the Collation Officer, the supplementary election is for the polling units where election could not hold as a result of bandits’ activities and over voting,” he explained.
Bilbis, however, said prior to the election, stakeholders, including the Electoral Officers in some of the units in the senatorial district agreed that elections would not possibly be conducted in the affected areas because of lingering insecurity bedevilling the areas for more than two years now.
He further said “the Electoral Act 2022 is unambiguous with regards to areas of serious security threats, stressing that the areas affected in this case were deserted by the people for over two years, and therefore made the excuse adduced by the Collation officer untenable, not cogent and at variance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 as the security threat is verifiable.”
