Governorship aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Jigawa State, Hon. Bashir Adamu, popularly known as Matawallen Kazaure, has petitioned the party’s State Election Appeal Committee over the outcome of the recently conducted governorship primary election.
In the petition personally signed by him, Bashir Adamu alleged that the exercise was affected by irregularities, violations of party guidelines and interference by party officials.
He accused the chairman of the primary election committee of compromising neutrality by allegedly acting under the influence of the State Executive Committee, which he claimed pressured him into announcing the party’s candidate.
The former lawmaker further alleged that the State Executive Committee openly supported another aspirant, Sabo Nagudu, and worked towards ensuring his emergence as the party’s governorship candidate.
According to Bashir Adamu, despite contributing significantly to building the ADC structure across the 27 local government areas of Jigawa State, party officials at both state and local levels allegedly mobilised support for his opponent and were placed in charge of election materials, creating opportunities for manipulation.
He also claimed that officials responsible for distributing election materials deliberately delayed their delivery, especially in the North-West Senatorial District.
The delay, he said, caused election materials to arrive late at night after party members had waited for several hours for accreditation, forcing many eligible voters to leave before voting eventually started.
Bashir further alleged that political thugs loyal to his opponent took advantage of the confusion by hijacking election materials and producing fabricated results in favour of their preferred candidate.
He also cited cases of violence, intimidation and thuggery in different parts of the state, which reportedly disrupted the exercise and led to the cancellation of voting in four local government areas.
According to him, the disturbances made the election inconclusive and prevented party members from freely exercising their democratic rights.
The aspirant also questioned the legitimacy of the results announced by the State Executive Committee, insisting that only the officially constituted Primary Election Committee had the authority to declare the outcome of the election.
He therefore urged the Appeal Committee to cancel the exercise and conduct a fresh primary, arguing that the process violated ADC guidelines as well as provisions of the Electoral Act.
Despite the controversy, Bashir reaffirmed his commitment to the ADC and expressed confidence that the party would address the issues raised in his petition fairly.
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