JUST-IN: PDP withdraws from Kano LG election

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kano State has withdrawn from participating in the upcoming local government area elections in the state.

According to DAILY NIGERIAN, the Kano Independent Electoral Commission, KANSIEC, had slated January 16 for the conduct of local council elections in the state.

But while briefing newsmen in Kano on Tuesday, the state PDP Caretaker Committee chairman, Danladi Abdulhameed, stated that the party took the decision due to lack of confidence and trust in the electoral process under Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party recalled how the governor allegedly manipulated the 2019 governorship election and influence the verdict of the court to return to power, saying that KANSIEC lacks the moral impetus to superintend any elections in the state.

He said: “Our party PDP reminiscent of the conduct of the conduct of the Ganduje-led administration during the 2019 general elections; have carefully studied the process and come to the conclusion that the APC-led government has grossly undermined the independence of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) and therefore it lacks the moral impetus to superintend any elections.

“The PDP and indeed the people of Kano cannot forget how Governor Ganduje and the APC, in connivance with electoral officials used hoodlums and political thugs as well as security agents to intimidate voters and disenfranchise the populace during the during the 2019 general elections that fraudulently brought the Ganduje administration into office by also manipulating the judiciary.

“Furthermore, the conduct of the Ganduje administration in the buildup to January local government election and how the APC members have turned the electoral process into a do-or-die affair is uncalled for and undemocratic.

“How can a government that manipulate and subverts its own party constitution just to impose preferred candidates in its primary be able to conduct a a free and fair general election that will treat the opposition parties fairly?

“An election that is prearranged to serve as payback to Governor Ganduje’s cronies can be everything but credible and we will be naive and presumptuous to think that we will have a level playing ground as the opposition,” he stated.