Labour Party Candidate Rejects Nasarawa Election Results

The Labour Party candidate for the Nasarawa North by-election, Labaran Maku, has rejected the results announced and called for the election to be canceled due to alleged widespread irregularities.

Maku, a former Minister of Information, made this statement on Sunday during a press briefing at his home in Wakama, located in the Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area.

He expressed concern over alleged violations of electoral laws by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the election. He noted that officials from the Nasarawa State Government allegedly worked with INEC to run the election.

Maku, who was also a former Deputy Governor of the state, said the Returning Officer did not address the issues of fraud and manipulation that Labour Party agents raised during the results collation.

He said, “I have observed that what took place in the by-election in Nasarawa State was a sham, a complete sham. I consulted with my party. We decided that the best option is to pull out of the by-election and ask INEC to honourably cancel it and conduct a free and fair by-election for the senatorial district.

“You will notice that prior to this election, I continued to alert the public about plans to disrupt it and to rig the election by the state government. I did so continuously. Now, the evidence is before the public. This election was run by the state government and its officials.

“INEC simply provided the platform for the government to allocate votes. For your information, on the eve of the election, one or two of the presiding officers came and reported that appointees of the government warned him that the state government cannot be disgraced and that tomorrow (Saturday), there will be no election.”

Maku alleged that the election did not hold in many areas. He added that ballot papers were pre-marked and that places like Alizaga, Umme Ward, and Alushi Ward in Nasarawa Eggon LGA conducted elections without using the BVAS machine.

He also claimed that in Agyaga and Ningo-Bohar electoral wards, as well as Gudi polling units in Akwanga LGA, there was manipulation of figures.

“In Wamba LGA, we have cases of thumb printing in Mama among quite a number of polling units. In the Akun Area Administrative Council, there were cases of malfunctioning of BVAS machines, which disenfranchised many of my supporters.

“If you noticed what happened yesterday, in my area and in some wards where they think they have no control, the BVAS deliberately did not work. Either they tampered with them or put data that would last for an hour, after which the data would finish, and they would tell the public that the BVAS had developed faults and could not work.

“For example, in Sabon Wakama and Angwan Tsoko and in so many polling units in my wards, people had to give data to be used for the BVAS. In some places, they had to take a technician to go and fix them because they were disabled, so that voting would not take place,” he said.

Maku then called on the federal government to investigate the election and INEC for not following electoral laws.

“This matter calls for proper investigation because this is a national embarrassment,” he added.

He also thanked the campaign teams of Labour Party governorship candidate Jonathan Gaza, former Inspector-General of Police Abubakar Adamu, and former Deputy Governor Silas Agara, among others, for their support during the by-election.

In response, the State Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Augustine Ogaba, dismissed Maku's allegations. He urged him to accept the election results.

He said that the former minister's declining popularity in the senatorial zone could not have led to his victory, especially as he had not been stable in a political party in recent months.

Ogaba added, “It is funny for anyone to accuse the APC of any form of irregularity during the by-election because if you put all the results of the opposition parties together, it is not even half of what our candidate scored.

“For the opposition, it is only when they win an election that it is free and fair. If they lose, they will find a reason to complain about the process.

“My advice to the former minister is for him to learn from the process and prepare for another time. He should go back home and do his homework so that he can come out stronger next time instead of complaining for no obvious reason.