Isiyaku Ahmed
Kano State Directorate of Peoples Redemption Party has resolved to boycott the January 16, 2021 election into the local government councils in the state.
A statement signed by the Party Chairman, Comrade Sammani Shariff Bashir said after careful considerations of the unfolding issues surrounding the preparation of the elections into the local government councils by the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), the Kano State Directorate of PRP has resolved to boycott the election.
“Indeed, the PRP in Kano State is fully convinced that contesting for the election is tantamount to waste of time and resources in view of some reasons,” he added.
One of the many reasons for the boycott of the council poll as stated by Comrade Sammani include the issue of local government autonomy which he said is the thrust of PRP campaign in the 2019 general election.
Other parts of the statement read:
The party took that decision on the believe that the current dispensation where the State Governors dominated and plunder the subvention accrued to the local governments from the Federation Account is one of the major causes of wide spread poverty and underdevelopment in the states.
While on the other hand, state Governors have become emperors that run the local governments based on their wishes and caprices. This scenario made rigging of the local governments’ election by the incumbent governments a do or die affair. This is the reason why the history of the conduct of local government election is always marred by fraudulent and violent activities.
Success of any elections is attributed to a large extent by the openness and transparent nature of the exercise. While the honesty and fairness of the umpire remained a deciding factor to the credibility of the election. But to our greatest disappointment, the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) is being staffed by cronies and sympathizers of the incumbent government, therefore conducting a free, fair and credible election is actually a mirage.
It is a public knowledge that no matter the effort of the State Independent Electoral Commission in attempting to ensure the conduct of a credible election, at the end, the incumbent government usually hijack the process and announce its candidates as winners of the election that was actually not concluded, thereby relegating the KANSIEC officials to the back row.
This attitude is clearly demonstrated recently by a Commissioner in the APC government who arrogantly and without shame congratulated the APC candidates and stressed that they have already won the election that has not even started.
It should also be noted that the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission charge the sum of N250,000 for the purchase of form for any person wishing to contest the position of the council Chairman, while that of a counselor cost N150,000 Naira.
PRP is of the opinion that KANSIEC is not a money-making venture. As such it should not charge anything from the contestants because our people cannot afford such a huge amount, especially as our people leaving in the rural areas are subjected to all sorts of deprivations, while at the same time, huge amount of money is set aside by the State government for the exercise.
The PRP is highly disappointed with the conduct of primary election in the APC and in preparation for the forthcoming local government election. The party demonstrated a total lack of internal democracy. We believe that a party that could not be fair to its members could not be fair to the opposition. This is a clear pointer to the fact that the KANSEIC dominated APC government cannot conduct free, fair and credible election.
The PRP is highly disappointed and condemned in strongest terms the role being played by some smaller parties during the conduct of local government election in Kano State. These political parties under the platform of Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Kano
State had been complicit to the conduct and legalizing fraudulent elections for a meager material gains. Their role and participation in such a fake election is quite condemnable and therefore, we urge all parties that are worth their names to boycott the election and save their faces.
The PRP finally appeals to its members and candidates who have been working tirelessly, mobilizing the people in the grassroots to bear with such a painful decision taken by the party.
The party also calls on patriotic Kanawas to completely boycott the process of this drama sketch being organized by KANSEIC in the name of election into the local government councils.
