Politics

PDP Accuses APC Of Vote Buying In Katsina Bye-Election (Photos)

Published

6 years ago

August 12, 2018

Voters from across the 12 local government areas of Katsina North Senatorial District, Katsina State, trooped out en masse yesterday to participate in the bye-election to select a candidate for the vacant seat.The seat became vacant following the demise last April of Senator Mustapha Bukar. The contest was between two brothers, Ahmad Babba Kaita, a serving member of the House of Representatives, (APC Kusada/Ingawa/Kankia Federal Constituency), and his elder brother, Kabir Babba Kaita, of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Various stakeholders described the election process as peaceful but the Katsina State PDP Chairman, Salisu Majigiri, alleged that there was “vote buying.”

He told reporters in Daura: “Yes, the election was generally peaceful but our agents complained about vote buying, perpetuated by the APC. We have evidence to prove that in 99 per cent of the polling centers, the APC engaged in vote buying.”

However, Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly, Abubakar Kusada, who monitored the exercise at his Kusada Local Government Area, said that there were no manipulations of any sort.

He said: “As you can see, everything is going on smoothly and the voter-turnout is quite impressive and I am confident that the APC will win at the end of the day.”

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had told the people during the APC rally in Daura on Thursday that the party needed to secure the seat in order to continue to maintain the majority at the Senate. “You know that Katsina is the home of Mr. President, it means that a vote for Kaita is a vote for Buhari and you should also vote the APC candidate in memory of the late Mustapha Bukar,” Osinbajo said.