A coalition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) support groups in Sokoto has faulted the process of the primary election that produced the party’s governorship flag bearer, urging the national leadership under Senator Abdullahi Adamu to cancel the exercise which it described as illegal, null and void.
It also alleged that the entire process, from the onset, was a monumental manipulation by some party leaders to favour the candidature of an aspirant through the use of personal security details and thugs to intimidate delegates.
Addressing reporters in Sokoto yesterday, Secretary of the coalition, Bashar Binji, who sought for justice to prevail, described the process as not only a rape of democracy, but also a complete charade orchestrated by the enemies of democracy to achieve their selfish goals.
He said: “The exercise cannot be said to be credible. It’s also a desperate attempt to impose an unwanted candidate against the popular wishes of the masses.
“Delegates observed not to be dancing to the tune of their interest were assaulted and chased out of the venue. Three other aspirants luckily managed to escape attack by thugs to the pleasure of the state party leaders,” alleged the coalition.
It further alleged that the venue of the primary election was deliberately chosen to frustrate the comfort of delegates to pave way for a corrupt exercise.
“Our suspicions were later confirmed when officials conducting the election intentionally switched off power while delegates were casting their votes in the middle of the night and left the venue in total darkness for a very long period of time.”
Citing more instances against the outcome of the exercise, Binji said:
“Officials responsible for accrediting delegates were substituted overnight for children and friends of the party leader to fill their spots.
“Forcing delegates to elect their preferred choice in order to elude the imminent retributions of going against the earlier directives given to them,” he strongly alleged while calling on the APC National Chairman, the National Working Committee (NWC) and relevant authorities to declare the Sokoto APC governorship primary as illegal, null and void and ensure justice came into play in order for justice to prevail.