The Zamfara chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has cautioned against the deployment of outlawed security volunteers popularly known as ‘Yansakai’ to Kaura Namoda Local Government Area ahead of Saturday’s State House of Assembly bye-election in the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled Saturday to conduct a bye-election for Kaura Namoda South State House of Assembly Constituency.
The scheduled bye-election followed the demise of the lawmaker representing the constituency, Aminu Kasuwar-Daji of the APC.
In a statement issued in Gusau on Thursday, the state APC publicity secretary, Yusuf Idris, said the party has concluded all the required arrangements to participate fully in Saturday’s bye-election in a peaceful manner.
Mr Idris, however, alleged that there were plans for the engagement of illegal security outfits in the election process by some desperate politicians.
“We have noticed the movement of some suspected miscreants in the state for them to participate in the forthcoming bye-election for Kaura Namoda South state assembly constituency.
“Based on the information we gathered, the suspected miscreants are being kitted with uniforms and firearms to participate in the election process, which is totally against the electoral laws,” Mr Idris said.
Mr Idris accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state of using state government machinery to win the election.
“This is an alarming situation used by the PDP in their desperate move to forcefully ensure that their candidate is declared the winner at the end of the election, no matter who gets wounded or killed.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is certainly not happy with the strength of the APC in the areas where the poll will be conducted.
“That is why they resolved to use miscreants to achieve their selfish political interests.
“We fear for the lives and properties of our electorate and those of our party members.
“APC is a peace-loving party, we want to use this medium to alert the security agencies in the state in good time, for them to take proactive measures,” Mr Idris added.
The party urged the authorities to make sure that only the reputable security agencies, especially the police, SSS and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were involved in the election process.
Reacting to the allegations, the state publicity secretary of the PDP, Halliru Andi, described them as baseless and a propaganda by the APC over the fear of participating in the election.
Mr Andi said that the PDP in the state had no record of election malpractices or creating violence during elections.
He accused the APC of using unnecessary statements, saying, “this is because of its desperation to win the bye-election.
“Everyone knows that in the history of Zamfara, the PDP chapter has been a peace-loving umbrella.
“The APC Zamfara chapter is used to create unnecessary allegations to divert the attention of the authorities and the public.
“Therefore, all the allegations by the APC against the PDP are not true.
“I am therefore calling on the public and the authorities to disregard such allegations as they are created to create havoc in the state ahead of election day,” he added.
