APC primaries: More aspirants threaten court action in Niger

Protests at the weekend trailed the release of names of candidates for various political parties in the 2019 general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Niger state with some aggrieved aspirants who contested for the primaries on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) threatening court action.

The aspirants claimed they won the just-concluded primary of the party for the House of Representatives but their names were allegedly substituted with those of opponents who lost during the exercise.

An aspirant for Magama/Rijau federal constituency Jafaru Ilyasu claimed he has given his counsel the nod to instigate court proceeding over the alleged substitution of his name as the winner of the primary with that of Shehu Salleh whom he alleged never contested the election.

A statement by the contestant made available to the press in Minna on Sunday claimed that the party substituted the aspirants name with that of Hon. Shehu Saleh Rijau (Slow) at the point of submission of candidates’ lists to the INEC, in Abuja.

“Shehu did not purchase  the expression of interest and nomination forms to seek for this particular position from the party  he only collected forms to contest for  the senatorial ticket which he contested and lost.

“This in itself has disqualified him from the contest for the house of representatives ticket,” the aspirant declared.

His supporters staged a peaceful demonstration in Minna the state capital against the alleged substitution of his name.

Also another Aspirant for Suleja/Tafa/Gurara federal constituency, Ado Abubakar has vowed to seek redress in court over the decision of the party National Working Committee to unilaterally pick the incumbent, Alhaji Lado Abubakar after a botched primary.

According to him, “When it was clear that no primary election took place in the area, the NWC went ahead to give the ticket to my opponent. This is unfair, and I will challenge this in court.”