Kano Supplementary Poll: PDP Faults BMO’s Claim on Violence

The Kano State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) over the reported violence that marred the recently-held supplementary governorship election in the state.

Kano State PDP Chairman, Alhaji Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi, distanced the PDP, Kwankwaso and its governorship candidate, Abba Yusuf, from any form of violence and act that compromised the electoral process in the state.

The party scribe was on Thursday  reacting to a statement credited to BMO accusing the PDP and Kwankwaso as being the perpetrators of  the violence during the highly contentious governorship poll in which Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje was declared winner.

Bichi said it was unfortunate that BMO took sides with Ganduje and his cohorts whose sponsored thugs perpetrated massive votes buying, ballot stuffing and vote-rigging in the 279 voting points with the total number of 128,324 registered voters spread across 28 local government areas in Kano State.

He maintained that the gory pictures of violence in Kano publicised in both the social and traditional media during the re-run election were a true reflection of what actually transpired in Kano State during the supplementary election.

Bichi described BMO’s claim on the violence as a figment of the imagination of their sponsors who conveyed the impression that those pictures were shot at a bar in Ghana and from the Plateau

ethno-religious violence in recent years.

He wondered why BMO chose to align with retrogressive forces to

undermine the interest of Kano State which contributed immensely to

the successes recorded by President Muhammadu Buhari since he joined

partisan politics in 2003.

He noted: "By such posture, BMO and its sponsors have clearly shown

that violence pays under the APC-led government since those who

perpetrate were being rewarded handsomely by INEC as we have witnessed

in kano state."

"The APC benefitted from thuggery orchestrated by the deputy governor

and some of the commissioners. We feel saddened the Nation Newspapers

which is the mouthpiece of the APC national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu

has taken sides and is biased in its reportage of the election in

Kano. We expect nothing less from them.

"We make bold to say that nothing could be further from the truth as

there are verifiable evidence at the disposal of our agents, election

monitors and well-meaning citizens of Kano State to prove how the APC

and their hired thugs, under the watchful eyes of security agents

assaulted and disenfranchised our supporters in the desperate bid to

keep Ganduje in power at all cost.

" It is on record that the state Deputy Governor, Nasiru Gawuna and

the State Commissioner for Local Government, Alhaji Sule Garo were

taken into custody for taking the laws into their hands by disrupting

the final collation of results at the Nasarawa Local Government area

collation centre when defeat stared Ganduje in the face.

“The Gama Ward incidence in Nasarawa Local Government replete with

voter intimidation , vote-buying and ballot box stuffing, as witnessed

in all other local governments, provide an ample evidence of Ganduje's

hypocrisy on the issue.