PDP rejects Katsina gov poll results, heads for court

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PDP rejects Katsina gov poll results, heads for court

The Peoples Democratic Party in Katsina State has rejected the results of Saturday’s governorship election in the state.

The Director General of the PDP Campaign Council in the state, Dr Mustapha Inuwa, revealed the party’s position at a press conference in Katsina on Monday.

The press conference was also attended by the party’s governorship candidate, Senator Yakubu Lado; the chairman of the campaign council, Senator Ibrahim Tsauri; and other state party leaders.

Speaking on behalf of the party, Inuwa said, “We reject the result of last Saturday’s governorship election in totality. The election was characterised by violence, financial inducements, intimidation of civil servants, and many other malpractices.

“We are heading for court to challenge the result. It is really sad that instead of allowing the electorate to freely elect their leaders, cases of malpractices, including intimidation of civil servants, financial inducement, thuggery, and violence were employed to twist the electorate’s choice. I know by the grace of God that we are going to win.”

Inuwa said it was curious that despite that the voter turnout was lower on Saturday, the APC got almost twice the number of votes it got during the February 25 presidential election which had higher voter turnout.

“They added only a few thousand figures to our party that came first in the presidential election, to show that they are not smart at all,” he said.

He appealed to party members and followers to remain calm and law-abiding while the party challenged the results at the tribunal.

On his part, governorship candidate, Lado, said, “The election was characterised by several malpractices, which we will cite at court. I reject it totally.”

Meanwhile, the APC candidate, Dr Dikko Radda, who was declared winner of the poll, promised “an inclusive government” that would take care of all interest groups in the state.

Radda gave the assurance to the people of Katsina on Sunday night, shortly after he was declared the winner in the election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday night said Radda polled 859,892 votes across 34 local government areas to emerge the winner of the election.

On the other hand, INEC said Lado polled 486,260 to come second while Nura Khalid of the New Nigeria Peoples Party polled 8,263, to clinch third position.