The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the result of Saturday’s Bye-election in Bauchi South Senatorial District, alleging that a vote was bought for as low as N100.
Nigeria’s electoral umpire, INEC, declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yahaya Gumau, as the winner.
Gumau scored 119,489 votes to defeat his nearest challenger, PDP’s Ladan Salihu, who polled 50,256 votes.
Chairman of PDP in the state, Alhaji Hamza Akuyam, said their candidate and the party would head to the Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election.
“This was done without any consideration for voters who stood in queues for long; some traveled miles and braved extreme conditions, only to be disenfranchised with a stroke of the pen; this is unacceptable,” he said.
He also alleged that vote-buying was widespread and conducted in the open, adding that a vote was sold for between N100 and N5000.
Akuyam also alleged that about 80,000 votes were unjustifiably canceled in an election where only 256,763 votes were cast.
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