The Kaduna State Government has laughed off accusations by the African Democratic Congress and Social Democratic Party coalition that it was plotting to rig Saturday’s bye-elections, describing the claims as “laughable lies.”
The coalition, led by ADC National Vice Chairman (Northwest), Jafaru Sani, alleged on Thursday that Governor Uba Sani’s administration had perfected plans to influence the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency and state constituency elections in Zaria and Sabon-Gari.
Sani told reporters that the plan involved recruiting thugs, bribing electoral officials, and large-scale vote buying. He also claimed that senior Independent National Electoral Commission officials were being offered plots of land and that a former senator had been tasked with mobilising funds for vote buying.
The coalition called on INEC to replace the alleged compromised officials and urged security agencies to resist “being weaponised to subvert the will of the people.”
But Kaduna’s Commissioner for Information-designate, Ahmed Maiyaki, dismissed the allegations as “baseless, mischievous, and a desperate bid to pre-empt defeat.” Speaking alongside the Commissioner for Local Government, Sadiq Mamman-Lagos, Maiyaki said the coalition’s “poorly attended rallies” had already shown “clear rejection” by voters.
“This is nothing but a face-saving measure by people who already know the outcome of Saturday’s election,” he said. “We will not sit idly by while political opportunists smear the name of our administration and malign innocent officials with wild, unsubstantiated claims.”
Maiyaki stressed that only INEC could conduct elections and accused the coalition of trying to drag the government into “its own political misery.” He added that while the coalition was “crying wolf,” the governor was in Chikun Local Government Area flagging off the construction of the Romi–Karatudu Township Roads.
“Governor Uba Sani has united Kaduna people and delivered tangible development. These political jobbers are unsettled by his popularity, so they manufacture theatre to distract the public,” Maiyaki said, urging voters to “turn out en masse” on election day.
Mamman-Lagos also dismissed separate claims of illegal deductions from local government accounts.
The bye-elections in Chikun/Kajuru and the two state constituencies in Zaria and Sabon-Gari are expected to test the strength of the ruling All Progressives Congress against the opposition on Saturday.
