Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Isa Ashiru, has rejected the declaration of Governor Nasir el-Rufai as winner result of the governorship election held on Saturday.
Ashiru expressed his rejection of the result as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while speaking to newsmen in Kaduna on Monday.
The aggrieved politician said he has substantial evidence showing that the election was manipulated.
He called for outright cancellation of the results, alleging gross irregularities in some local government areas of the state.
According to him, reports obtained by his party agents across the state revealed that the elections were marred by a lot of irregularities.
“It is on the basis of these established irregularities that our party in a petition to the state Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC rejected the results and called for its outright cancellation.
“It is important for you to note that available reports have shown that smart card readers were not used during the elections in a lot of polling units,” he said.
The PDP candidate listed areas affected by the alleged irregularities as Giwa, Birnin Gwari, Kaduna North, Igabi, Zaria, Lere and Ikara local government areas.
“It is our firm belief that the non-usage of the card readers which is a violation of the electoral guidelines have rendered the results from these areas invalid.
“Another issue of concern to our party was the clear militarization of the electoral process in various part of the state,” he said.
Ashiru said the disparity between the number of votes obtained by the APC in the presidential elections and that of the governorship elections was another cause for concern.
INEC resident electoral commissioner in Kaduna, Kaugama Abdullahi, has confirmed receiving a petition against the outcome of the governorship poll from the PDP.
Abdullahi said the commission has already directed its legal department to take necessary actions on the petition since the request was within the law.
