The Plateau State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on its members and supporters to boycott the re-run of Local Government Elections scheduled for this Saturday. The decision was made in response to the party’s concerns over the fairness of the electoral process.
In a statement issued by the APC’s Acting Publicity Secretary, Shittu Bamaiyi, the party directed its faithful to distance themselves from the re-run elections, citing a lack of respect for democratic principles by the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) and the state government.
The APC accused PLASIEC and the government of disregarding the will of the people and undermining the democratic process. “There is no reason for the APC to validate or recognize an illegal process,” the statement read, adding that the re-run elections are an attempt to legitimize an already flawed election.
The party further criticized PLASIEC for announcing a re-run in certain electoral wards, despite previously declaring the local government elections as free, fair, and transparent. The APC argued that if there were issues with the election, a complete nullification of the results would have been more appropriate, pointing to what it called “well-established complaints” from other political parties.
The opposition party also expressed concerns over the safety and security of its supporters during the re-run, warning that the exercise would likely replicate the same irregularities seen during the initial election held last week.
The APC also alleged that some of its candidates, who were declared winners by PLASIEC, have not been issued certificates of return, preventing them from being sworn in. The party claims this is because those candidates belong to the APC.
As a result, the APC urged its councillorship candidates and supporters in the affected wards to ignore PLASIEC’s directives regarding the re-run elections and not participate in the exercise.
