By Longtong Ibrahim
36 out of the 38 r
egistered political parties in Kaduna state (northwest Nigeria), have vowed to boycott all political activities organized by the Kaduna state Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM), stressing that, until all political parties as well as relevant stakeholders are carried along and a realistic time table/programs for the local government elections are released.
Briefing newsmen Thursday in Kaduna, Chairman of the aggrieved parties under the umbrella body of Joint Leadership of Opposition Political Parties, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, accused the State Governor, Nair Elrufai of having a nonchalant attitude towards the conduct of the elections, saying it would no longer be tolerated.
According to them, “after a very critical study of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s activities and programs as regard Local government elections as well as SIECOM’s activities that are directed by him, it is very clear that he is never interested and willing to conduct the local government polls within the period of his administration. The so called process is a charade aimed at short-changing the electorates.
“That a high court judgment had directed state independence electoral commission to conduct Local Government election within 90 days since November, 2016 but the directives had not been complied with, that is total disrespect and disregard to the court of law.
“The APC led government went ahead and procured electronic voting machines (EVM) even before the law backing the process by the State House of Assembly is debated and passed. More so, no opposition political party or stakeholders were involved in the process,” the Chairman noted.
While calling on the National Assembly to hasten the process of scrapping state’s Independent Electoral Commissions, the group pointed out that the Kaduna state government has usurped the functions of the state’s electoral body and rendered its independence doubtful.
The aggrieved political parties include; Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), Kaduna State Coalition of Political Parties (KCPP) and Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP).
They boycotted SIECOM’s stakeholders’ sensitization program of voter education held Thursday in the state.
