5 APC Senatorial aspirants in Adamawa write petition against Ismaila over vote buying

Five other aspirants branded the All Progress Congress, APC, primaries poll in the Southern Senatorial zone as a vote-buying activity.

The aspirants signed a letter condemning Adamu Ismaila Numan’s

underhanded tactic of giving delegates promissory notes in exchange for votes through his agent.

Dr Bridget Ziddon, Senator Grace F Jackson Bent, Barrister Bala Silas Sanga, Alhaji Sani Jada, and Abubakar Ahmad Moallahyidi are among the candidates who have demanded that Ismaila Numan be disqualified.

The appeal written to the Chairman of the Adamawa State Senatorial Elections Panel in relation to the APC Congress conducted in Numan recommended that stakeholders and aspirants meet at a round table to agree on a better time and date for the election.

Read the entire petition, which was copied to the APC National Chairman, the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, the Commissioner of Police in Adamawa State, and the state Director of the Department of State Security Services:

PETITION IN RESPECT OF THE SENATORIAL PRIMARIES OF THE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS HELD IN NUMAN, ADAMAWA STATE ON 28TH MAY 2022

We the undersigned Senatorial Aspirants of our great Party, the All Progressives Congress, write to bring to your attention the following salient facts that has smeared the image of the Party:

1. The Senatorial primaries of the Adamawa State Southern Senatorial Zone was scheduled to hold on the 28th of May 2022. Shortly after voting commenced, agents of the undersigned noticed that the Agent for Ismaila Adamu Numan was issuing out Promissory Notes to delegates in return for votes.
2. The agents of the undersigned protested the flagrant violation of the process, which is also a crime. The Agent of the said Ismaila Adamu Numan was searched and it was discovered that he had his pockets stuffed with several promissory notes,
3. All of us the undersigned consequently expected that the candidate in question would be disqualified moreso as the Electoral Committee confirmed and sighted the Promissory notes.
4. To our dismay, the Electoral Committee, allowed the agent of Ismaila Adamu Numan to exit the venue of the Primaries, with all the Promissory Notes, despite the protests of our agents.
5. There was breakdown of proper security measures as the Police refused to arrest the agent of Adamu Ismaila Numan, together with the exhibits in his possession.
6. The Electoral Committee took a rather bizzare decision that in the face of vote buying, they have disqualified the Agent of the said Ismaila Adamu Numan and asked the Candidate to replace him.
7. Our agents argued that the disqualification of the agent of Ismaila Adamu Numan meant that he Ismaila Numan should equally be disqualified from participation. This led to heated arguments and in the face of rising tension and the potentials for violence, we the undersigned advised that the Electoral Committee should document the vote buying, while voting continues.
8. The Electoral Committee documented the vote buying as an interim report and read it out to the undersigned and it was considered insufficient principally because it was not reflective of the situation and indeed read like a defence of the conduct of the said Ismaila Adamu Numan.
9. Under the circumstances, the undersigned advised that the Primaries be suspended until the issues arising are resolved, moreso as the environment had become charged and there was the possibility of breakdown of law and order.
10. Upon the exercise being suspended, the candidates exited the venue and mayhem ensued thereafter with vehicles being smashed up and several people injured. Several of the candidates were intimidated as the exited the venue.
11. This morning at about 8.54am, we received text messages from the State Publicity Secretary of the Party that the primaries had been rescheduled for 12.00pm. This is a notice period of just three hours for the Primaries to hold.
12. The severity of the allegations and issues were such that the Aspirants would have been invited to a meeting to resolve issues rather than an autocratic approach of giving just three Hours notice.
13. Some of the Aspirants were in Church at the time that the notice of the reschedule meeting was sent out and only got to see it less than one hour to the period.

We write to therefore bring to your attention to the following facts and respectfully urge as follows:

i. The breach of section 5 of the Electoral Act 2022 should lead to the disqualification of Ismaila Adamu Numan and we so urge you to do so.

ii. Given the violence that accompanied the process, the venue Numan is unsafe and we urge that an alternative venue be used. We advise that the State Capital, Yola, is suitable.

iii. Adequate notice should be given for the reconvened Primaries. The Southern Senatorial Zone comprises of 9 Local Governments and the Delegates and Aspirants need be given a fair chance to prepare.

iv. The Nigerian Police and Security Personnel should be properly sensitised to their role as they failed to do their job. The Police aided and abetted in the destruction of material evidence by failing to arrest the agent of Ismaila Adamu Numan.

v. The Electoral Committee exhibited open bias and we the undersigned have no faith in them and accordingly, our great party should constitute a new electoral committee.