The Cross River State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday rejected the outcome of the local government election held in the state on Saturday, citing alleged rigging and other electoral irregularities.
News About Nigeria recalls that the state electoral commission had declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of all 18 chairmanship seats and 196 councillorship seats.
Reacting to the election outcome, the PDP stated that the election was poorly conducted, alleging that the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission acted in favor of the APC.
In a statement issued by its Chairman in the state, Venatius Ikem, in Calabar on Monday, the PDP vowed to challenge the election results in court.
According to Ikem, the election was marred by numerous irregularities, including organized rigging by the APC and the state election body.
Ikem also claimed that in some polling units, presiding officers were not provided with stamps for the ballot papers after appending their signatures for authentication, as required by law.
The statement partly reads, “From inception, the processes were skewed to favor the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the composition of the electoral umpire. We underestimated the charade that the electoral umpire was preparing in the name of the local government election held on Saturday, 2 November.
“In Calabar South, Municipality, Obudu, Abi, and Obubra, in particular, election materials meant for entire local governments were diverted to the homes of APC stalwarts, where thumb-printing was brazenly carried out. For instance, in Obudu, no election materials were issued to anyone except the APC, who took custody of them and moved them to the Military School in Bedia. At this location, soldiers cordoned off everyone except APC members, reportedly on the orders of a serving army general from the area, who is an elder brother of the APC candidate.”
