PDP Charges Kano Electoral Body Ahead Of Council Poll

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sued the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) for “contempt of court,” ahead of the local government election scheduled to hold on Saturday.

Also sued in the litigation is the Aminu Wali faction of the PDP in Kano state.

The party is demanding legal action against the factional group for alleged “impersonation of the authentic PDP and use of PDP logo on the ballots.”

Kano State Chairman of PDP, Shehu Wada Sagagi, in a press conference said the opposition party filed two law suits before the Kano high court and Federal high court in the State.

KANSIEC Chairman, Prof. Garba Ibrahim Sheka had announced that 18 political parties, including PDP, were participating in the council election.

Sheka, who said his commission has screened ‘PDP candidates’ standing for the election, added he has not received any formal letter from the PDP declaring intention not to participate in the ballots. That the PDP has factions and is rocked by internal crisis is not a worry to the commission whose responsibility is to conduct transparent and credible elections, he said.

The PDP Chairman, Shehu Wada Sagagi, said the internal crisis within PDP in the State was resolved by the judgment of a vacation Judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal high court, Kano.

The court had ruled that the Kwankwasiyya Movement is the authentic PDP, which prompted the party to elect new officials, with Sagagi as the chairman. The Wali faction appealed the judgment and also elected ‘officials,’ in which Muhammina Bako Lamido claimed to have emerged the party’s ‘chairman.’

Sagagi said the PDP had declared publicly it will boycott the council poll and queried why KANSIEC is violating court verdict, by admitting candidates in the name of PDP.

“The chairman of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission is behaving like a politician. So, we are calling on the judiciary to save us in this situation.

“We have filed a case of contempt against the person that is parading himself as PDP chairman (Muhammina Bako Lamido) and against the chairman of KANSIEC (Sheka) and the commission.

“We are praying the court to determine whether KANSIEC has the right to accept a candidate from any group other than the one legally recognised as the Exco of the party,” the PDP chairman said.