Ahead the October 17, 2020, local government polls in Bauchi, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has cried foul over the sack of all Electoral Officers (EOs) in the 20 local governments and the appointment of new ones by the government.
The party in a press release issued by its state publicity secretary, Adamu Jallah, on Friday alleged that the government action which came few weeks to the election was a plot to rig the poll in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates.
He said it was the sole responsibility of the Bauchi state Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) to appoint and deploy the electoral officers to various areas decrying that in this case, local government service commission was allegedly instructed by the state government to sack the electoral officers and appoint new ones.
“Government has sacked all local government Electoral Officers (EOs) in the 20 local government areas who will conduct and supervise the election in their various areas. This happened few weeks to the election and Local Government Service Commission instead of BASIEC sent new officers to replace them,” the statement read in part.
The party also accused BASIEC of coming up with too many and complicated requirements for chairmanship and councillorship candidates with an alleged motive to disqualify members of the opposition from the contest.
“The Commission has set too many requirements for the candidates which they will use to disqualify any candidate who does not meet those requirements. Nigerian constitution allows candidates to contest for elective offices with little requirements including academic qualifications, but BASIEC is coming up with too many and complicated requirements for local governments chairmanship and councillorship candidates.
“We, therefore, urge the commission to work according to the law and be fair to all parties. It is only when the commission remains independent that the election it is going conduct will be credible.”
