Senatorial aspirant alleges fraud in APC primary

Senatorial aspirant alleges fraud in APC primary

The senatorial aspirant says he has appealed the result of the election and has also filed a suit in court.

Labaran Magaji, an aspirant on the platform of APC at the recently concluded Nasarawa West Senatorial District primary election, has vowed to challenge the outcome of the election through legal and due processes to reclaim his mandate.

Mr Magaji disclosed this on Sunday at a reception organised for him in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nr Magaji, an indigene of the town, returned to a rousing welcome and praises from people of the town on Sunday over his exploits during and after the polls.

Mr Magaji lost the party’s ticket to his co-contestant, Shehu Tukur, who polled 179 votes against his 114 votes in the election held on June 4.

NAN reports that Mr Magaji, along with his supporters, came from Abuja via Abaji Area Council and were met by many residents of the town at the border between Abaji and Toto, celebrating at the reception.

According to him, the process of seeking redress has already commenced through a petition to the APC Primary Election Appeals Committee for Nasarawa West Senatorial District, hence the need for his supporters in the district to remain hopeful and patient.

The district comprises Karu, Keffi, Kokona, Nasarawa and Toto.

He said the decision was taken following allegations which emerged after the election that some discrepancies occurred to favour the winner. He called on his supporters to be patient and law-abiding as he was doing everything possible to reclaim the ticket.

“Ideally he was the candidate of the party and we congratulated him for emerging winner of that very particular exercise but soon after the election, facts emerged that touched on the credibility of the process which my team and I reviewed and discovered there was a very fundamental controversy surrounding the process.

“One, the delegates from Keffi and Nasarawa local government areas were not the delegates that voted during the congresses for the purposes of the election.

“We also came in contact with an intercept of communication which has raised a lot of issues with respect to the facts which have emerged and has brought down the integrity of the entire process which necessitated our action.

“So we filed an appeal to the body statutorily set up by the National Working Committee of our party to so do, which is equally in line with the spirit of the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution,” he said.

Mr Magaji added that after filing the petition, the party’s appeal panel looked into it and found merit in the petition, thereby recommending further investigation, among other recommendations.

He said in spite of the conclusion of the party processes, he had also a case on the matter at a Federal High Court.

He, therefore, vowed to continue to fight for the interests of his people whenever the need arose.

Mr Magaji appreciated the people for organising a warm reception for him, in spite of losing the election, saying he was humbled by the love shown by the people.

“This reception organised for me is one in a million. I was really humbled and moved to tears. I also appreciate God for using me to salvage the people.”

A resident of the community, Yusuf Bawa, said the people of Toto were happy because, despite Mr Magaji’s loss, he had shown that the community had sons and daughters who could represent them and do well at the federal level of government.

“Whether they give it to him or not, as far as we are concerned, he has won. Those against him did not expect him to go this far but he has proved them wrong and made us proud.”

“He has put Toto in a positive limelight. That’s why we came out to celebrate him, regardless of the result of the election,” he said.

The Nasarawa West Senatorial District election was marred by controversy bordering on alleged alterations in the party’s original delegates list for the exercise.

The controversy forced a frontrunner, Ahmed Wadada, to withdraw from the contest and also defected to another party, Social Democratic Party (SDP) recently.