The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State has rejected the result of the May 28th bye election for Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency saying it was marred by irregularities and fraud perpetrated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The state chairman of PDP, Mr. Francis Orogu, made the allegation while addressing newsmen at the state secretariat of the party on Monday, disclosing further that the party has lost faith in INEC as a fair umpire and so would not participate in the rerun election scheduled for Wednesday, 1st June, 2016.
Orogu who accused INEC of using card reader to fraudulently negotiate votes for the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) said over 70 per cent of votes in PDP dominated areas were cancelled by INEC to the tune of over 39,000 in an election where only about 76,000 votes were cast.
He questioned why INEC gave less than 48 hours for the conduct of rerun election, maintaining that the electoral body did not advertise or display anywhere the list of those recruited to preside over the election.
In a separate press address, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Habu Zarma, said results were cancelled in 51 polling units with 11 polling units in Toto local government and 40 polling units in Nasarawa local government due to over-voting.
Zarma explained that Wednesday, 1st June, 2016, has been set aside for a rerun election, alleging that staff of the electoral body were subjected to intimidation during the last election.
