John Dafaan, an aspirant for the House of Representatives seat for Shendam/Qua’an-Pan/Mikang Federal Constituency, has petitioned the All Progressives Congress over alleged irregularities in the recently concluded party primaries held in Plateau State.
Dafaan submitted his petition on Thursday, May 21, at the APC secretariat in Jos, urging the party’s appeal panel to address what he described as widespread procedural breaches and lack of transparency in the collation of results across several local government areas.
Speaking after submitting his complaint, the aspirant said the election process was marred by delays and what he called a “flagrant abuse” of electoral procedures, particularly during the final collation stage.
“The election process was plagued by delays, eventually pushing it to Sunday, but my primary concern is that key regulatory procedures were flagrantly flouted. Most notably, the final collation across several local governments completely lacked transparency,” he said.
He explained that as a loyal party member, he approached the appeal panel to formally lodge his grievances, expressing hope that the party would address the anomalies recorded during the exercise.
“I have formally lodged my submissions with the appeal panel, and I am currently awaiting their resolutions regarding these severe collation anomalies,” Dafaan stated.
The aspirant further alleged that in Shendam Local Government Area, no election was conducted, yet results were allegedly allocated to candidates.
“In Shendam LGA, elections did not take place at all. It is incredibly unfortunate that votes were mysteriously allocated to candidates there anyway,” he claimed.
Dafaan, however, noted that elections were held in his home local government area, Qua’an-Pan, though he said the exercise was disrupted in some wards.
“In my home LGA, Qua’an-Pan, elections did happen, though disturbances stopped voting in three out of the eleven wards. If given another opportunity, I believe those wards will do the right thing,” he said.
During an interview, he maintained that his complaint was based on evidence provided by agents on the ground, insisting that it was not difficult to establish that elections did not hold in certain areas.
“What do you mean by evidence? If something did not take place, it did not take place. My agents are there,” he said.
He urged the APC leadership to strengthen its internal conflict resolution mechanisms to address anomalies and ensure a more credible process in future primaries.
According to him, while the party must correct observed irregularities, members remain committed to its unity and progress.
“We will be very cooperative, we will support the party up to the end. Whatever it is that the party decides, as loyal party men, we will stand with the party,” he added.
Dafaan expressed confidence in the party’s appeal process, insisting that he believed the panel would do the needful in resolving the disputes arising from the primaries.