The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leading opposition party, PDP, in Katsina State have traded words over yesterday’s local government election in the state with the former governor of the state, Shehu Shema, describing the exercise as a “sham”.
Speaking with journalists in his country home in Dutsinma, Shema said President Muhammadu Buhari must intervene to protect his “supposed integrity.”
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The former governor alleged that while ballot papers were distributed to the polling units, result sheets were taken to Katsina government house waiting for the time of announcement.
“This is a shame on APC, it is a shame nationally and internationally that APC cannot hold common local government election.
“This same Aminu Bello Masari dissolved a duly elected local government administration. It took the dexterity and courage of our party members to take the matter up to the Supreme Court where his action was declared illegal, unconstitutional, null and void,” Shema said.
Reacting, the Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Dr Mustapha Inuwa, said the allegations raised by Shema were baseless.
“The person making such allegations knew that they cannot contest this election, and they have collected monies from their sponsors in Abuja, so they have to find a way of accounting for what they have collected.
“Everyone knows that the state electoral commission has distributed all the required materials to the LGAs for onward distribution to the polling units, but it was the PDP that planned to thwart that arrangement and they succeeded in delaying the distribution, that is why some wards did not receive theirs in time,” he said.
