The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to declare its governorship candidate in Kano state, Abba Kabir Yusuf, winner of the election.
In a statement signed by Kola Ologbondiyan, the National publicity secretary of the party, Abba Yusuf has scored the highest legal votes in the contest, and as such should be declared the winner of the election.
The party had initially called on INEC to cancel the polls over widespread violence, and now insists that ” no valid polling held at the March 23 Kano Supplementary elections and therefore no figures can be fabricated from the exercise to displace Abba Yusuf’s leading margin of over 26, 000 votes.”
Read the full statement below
PDP charges INE to immediately declare our candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf as the winner of the Kano Governorship election, having scored the highest number of lawful votes and secured the statutory 25% in 2/3rd of the state.
The party insists that no valid polling held at the March 23 Kano Supplementary elections and therefore no figures can be fabricated from the exercise to displace Abba Yusuf’s leading margin of over 26, 000 votes.
INEC is already aware that its supplementary election in Kano was completely disrupted by thugs contracted by APC who invaded polling units and chased away voters. INEC therefore cannot accept fabricated figures being bandied by the APC as results from the scuttled rerun.
The people of Kano state have since made up their minds to have Abba Yusuf as their governor and any attempt by anybody to subvert their will as already expressed in the March 9 substantive poll will surely attract the legitimate anger of the masses.
We therefore call on INEC to immediately do the needful by respecting the will of the people as freely expressed on March 9 and announce Abba Yusuf, the flagbearer of the PDP, as the winner of the election, having fulfilled the demands of Section 179 (2) of the 1999 Constitution.