The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Borno State has announced its withdrawal from Saturday’s local government elections, citing distrust in the state’s electoral body and prohibitively high nomination fees.
In a statement issued on Friday titled “Why We’re Boycotting Borno LG Polls,” the party’s state Publicity Secretary, Amos Adziba, confirmed that the decision was unanimously reached at a State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting held in Maiduguri.
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The PDP accused the Borno State Independent Electoral Commission (BOSIEC) of failing to provide opposition parties with credible assurances of a free, fair, and transparent process.
“The BOSIEC did not give opposition parties substantial reasons to build confidence in the credibility and fairness of the election,” Adziba said.
A major grievance was the cost of expression of interest and nomination forms, which the party described as exorbitant and insensitive amid Nigeria’s harsh economic climate.
“The state electoral body appears unmindful of the prevailing economic challenges by demanding high fees for forms,” the statement read.
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The PDP also criticised the state government for refusing to amend the electoral law to allow councillorship results to be declared at ward level and chairmanship results at local government headquarters a change the opposition believes would reduce opportunities for manipulation.
“Since the state government has not amended the bill, it means it will be business as usual for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to ambush other political parties with electoral fraud,” Adziba warned.
Neither BOSIEC nor the state government has responded to the allegations at the time of reporting.