Anthony Iwuoma
The controversy surrounding the authentic governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Kano State in the 2023 general elections has been resolved by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), which decided the matter in favour of Muhamad Abacha.
The tussle for the party’s ticket had been between Muhammad Abacha, son of the late former Head of State, Dani Abacha, and Sadiq Wali.
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However, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Kano State, Professor Risque Shehu, has declared the elections conducted by Shehu Sagagi from which Abacha emerged as the authentic.
Speaking with newsmen, Prof. Shehu said, “As at the time the PDP primary was conducted, Shehu Sagagi was the one recognised by the law as the State Chairman of the party in Kano and is also the only election that we sent our observers.
“Although the primary is purely party affair, as far as we are concerned, the elections conducted by Shehu Sagagi was the one we recognised,” he added.
Explaining further, Shehu said certain party leaders had come from Abuja, saying they had been sent from the PDP headquarters to conduct primary elections into the governorship seat of the state without disclosing the venue.
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“But later, Shehu Sagagi, the state-recognised PDP Chairman by law as at that time, came with the same letter from the party headquarters and with locations and we sent our observers, who monitored their elections.
“And later in the day, another team of observers, claiming they came from the party headquarters came and asked us to send our team of observers to witness their primary elections but we declined because we told them we are acting on what the law says,” he said.
The INEC position may have put to rest the crisis in the Kano State chapter of the PDP since Abacha and Wali emerged winners from two parallel PDP primaries, each claiming to be the authentic candidate to fly the party’s flag in the state.